{"id":210253,"date":"2022-05-02T12:00:06","date_gmt":"2022-05-02T11:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=210253"},"modified":"2022-04-26T08:46:59","modified_gmt":"2022-04-26T07:46:59","slug":"world-military-expenditure-passes-2-trillion-for-first-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2022\/05\/world-military-expenditure-passes-2-trillion-for-first-time\/","title":{"rendered":"World Military Expenditure Passes $2 Trillion for First Time"},"content":{"rendered":"
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World military expenditure, by region, 1988\u20132021<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Military expenditure reaches record level in the second year of the pandemic<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

World military spending continued to grow in 2021, reaching an all-time high of $2.1 trillion. This was the seventh consecutive year that spending increased.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Even amid the economic fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic, world military spending hit record levels,\u2019 said Dr Diego Lopes da Silva, Senior Researcher with SIPRI\u2019s Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme. \u2018There was a slowdown in the rate of real-terms growth due to inflation. In nominal terms, however, military spending grew by 6.1 per cent.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

As a result of a sharp economic recovery in 2021, the global military burden\u2014world military expenditure as a share of world gross domestic product (GDP)\u2014fell by 0.1 percentage points, from 2.3 per cent in 2020 to 2.2 per cent in 2021.<\/span><\/p>\n

United States <\/span><\/strong>focuses<\/span><\/strong> on<\/span><\/strong> military research and development<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

US military spending amounted to $801 billion in 2021, a drop of 1.4 per cent from 2020. The US military burden decreased slightly from 3.7 per cent of GDP in 2020 to 3.5 per cent in 2021.<\/span><\/p>\n

US funding for military research and development (R&D) rose by 24 per cent between 2012 and 2021, while arms procurement funding fell by 6.4 per cent over the same period. In 2021 spending on both decreased. However, the drop in R&D spending (\u20131.2 per cent) was smaller than that in arms procurement spending (\u20135.4 per cent). <\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018The increase in R&D spending over the decade 2012\u201321 <\/span>suggests<\/span> that the United States is focusing more on next-generation technologies,\u2019 said Alexandra Marksteiner, Researcher with SIPRI\u2019s Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme. \u2018The US Government has <\/span>repeatedly stressed<\/span> the need to preserve the US military\u2019s technological edge over strategic competitors.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

Russia increases military budget in run-up to war<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Russia increased its military expenditure by 2.9 per cent in 2021, to $65.9 billion, <\/span>at a time when it was building up its forces along the Ukrainian border.<\/span>\u00a0This was the third consecutive year of growth and Russia\u2019s military spending reached 4.1 per cent of GDP in 2021. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018High oil and gas revenues helped Russia to boost its military spending in 2021. Russian military expenditure had been in decline between 2016 and 2019 as a result of low energy prices combined with sanctions in response to Russia\u2019s annexation of Crimea in 2014,\u2019 said Lucie B\u00e9raud-Sudreau, Director of SIPRI\u2019s Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The \u2018national defence\u2019 budget line, which accounts for around three-quarters of Russia\u2019s total military spending and includes funding for operational costs as well as arms procurement, was revised upwards over the course of the year. The final figure was $48.4 billion, 14 per cent higher than had been budgeted at the end of 2020.<\/span><\/p>\n

As it has strengthened its defences against Russia, Ukraine\u2019s military spending has risen by 72 per cent since the annexation of Crimea in 2014. Spending fell in 2021, to $5.9 billion, but still accounted for 3.2\u00a0per cent of the country\u2019s GDP. <\/span><\/p>\n

Continued increases by major spenders in Asia and Oceania<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

China, the world\u2019s second largest spender, allocated an estimated $293 billion to its military in 2021, an increase of 4.7 per cent compared with 2020. China\u2019s military spending has grown for 27 consecutive years. The 2021 Chinese budget was the first under the 14th Five-Year Plan, which runs until 2025. <\/span><\/p>\n

Following initial approval of its 2021 budget, the Japanese Government added $7.0 billion to military spending. As a result, spending rose by 7.3 per cent, to $54.1 billion in 2021, the highest annual increase since 1972. Australian military spending also increased in 2021: by 4.0 per cent, to reach $31.8 billion.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018China\u2019s growing assertiveness in and around the South and the East China seas have become a major driver of military spending in countries such as Australia and Japan,\u2019 said SIPRI Senior Researcher Dr\u00a0Nan Tian. \u2018An example is the AUKUS trilateral security agreement between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States that foresees the supply of eight nuclear-powered submarines to Australia at an estimated cost of up to $128 billion.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

Other notable developments:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n