{"id":261690,"date":"2024-05-06T12:00:19","date_gmt":"2024-05-06T11:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=261690"},"modified":"2025-01-10T15:05:52","modified_gmt":"2025-01-10T15:05:52","slug":"global-military-spending-surges-amid-war-rising-tensions-and-insecurity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2024\/05\/global-military-spending-surges-amid-war-rising-tensions-and-insecurity\/","title":{"rendered":"Global Military Spending Surges amid War, Rising Tensions and Insecurity"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo: Shutterstock<\/p><\/div>\n

22 Apr 2024 –<\/span> Total global military expenditure reached $2443 billion in 2023, an increase of 6.8 per cent in real terms from 2022. This was the steepest year-on-year increase since 2009. The 10 largest spenders in 2023\u2014led by the United States, China and Russia\u2014all increased their military spending, according to new data on global military spending published today by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), available at <\/span>www.sipri.org<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Click here<\/a> to download the SIPRI Fact Sheet.<\/p>\n

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Military expenditure increases in all regions<\/span><\/h3>\n

World military expenditure rose for the ninth consecutive year to an all-time high of $2443 billion. For the first time since 2009, military expenditure went up in all five of the geographical regions defined by SIPRI, with particularly large increases recorded in Europe, Asia and Oceania and the Middle East.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018<\/span>The unprecedented rise in military spending is a direct response to the global deterioration in peace and security,\u2019 said Nan Tian, Senior Researcher with SIPRI\u2019s Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme. \u2018States are prioritizing military strength but they risk an action\u2013reaction spiral in the increasingly volatile geopolitical and security landscape.\u2019 <\/span><\/p>\n

Military aid to Ukraine narrows\u00a0spending gap with Russia\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Russia<\/strong>\u2019s military spending increased by 24 per cent to an estimated $109 billion in 2023, marking a 57 per cent rise since 2014, the year that Russia annexed Crimea. In 2023 Russia\u2019s military spending made up 16 per cent of total government spending and its military burden (military spending as a share of gross domestic product, GDP) was 5.9 per cent.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ukraine<\/strong> was the eighth largest spender in 2023, after a spending surge of 51 per cent to reach $64.8 billion. This gave Ukraine a military burden of 37 per cent and represented 58 per cent of total government spending.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ukraine\u2019s military spending in 2023 was 59 per cent the size of Russia\u2019s. However, Ukraine also received at least $35 billion in military aid during the year, including $25.4 billion from the USA. Combined, this aid and Ukraine\u2019s own military spending were equivalent to about 91 per cent of Russian spending.<\/span><\/p>\n

USA remains NATO\u2019s major spender but European members increase share<\/span><\/h3>\n

In 2023 the 31 NATO members accounted for $1341 billion, equal to 55 per cent of the world\u2019s military expenditure. Military spending by the USA<\/strong> rose by 2.3 per cent\u00a0to reach $916 billion in 2023, representing 68 per cent of total NATO military spending. In 2023 most European NATO members increased their military expenditure. Their combined share of the NATO total was 28 per cent, the highest in a decade. The remaining 4 per cent came from Canada<\/strong> and T\u00fcrkiye<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018For European NATO states, the past two years of war in Ukraine have fundamentally changed the security outlook,\u2019 said\u00a0<\/span>Lorenzo Scarazzato, Researcher with SIPRI\u2019s Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme.\u00a0<\/span>\u2018This shift in threat perceptions is reflected in growing shares of GDP being directed towards military spending, with the NATO target of 2 per cent increasingly being seen as a baseline rather than a threshold to reach.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

A decade after NATO members formally committed to a target of spending 2 per cent of GDP on the military, 11 out of 31 NATO members met or surpassed this level in 2023<\/span>\u2014the highest number since the commitment was made.\u00a0<\/span>Another target<\/span>\u2014<\/span>of directing at least 20 per cent of military spending to \u2018equipment spending\u2019<\/span>\u2014<\/span>was met by 28 NATO members in 2023, up from 7 in 2014.<\/span><\/p>\n

China\u2019s rising military expenditure drives up spending by neighbours<\/span><\/h3>\n

China<\/strong>, the world\u2019s second largest military spender, allocated an estimated $296 billion to the military in 2023, an increase of 6.0 per cent from 2022. This was the 29th consecutive year-on-year rise in China\u2019s military expenditure. China accounted for half of total military spending across the Asia and Oceania region. Several of China\u2019s neighbours have linked their own spending increases to China\u2019s rising military expenditure.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Japan<\/strong> allocated $50.2 billion to its military in 2023, which was 11 per cent more than in 2022.\u00a0Taiwan<\/strong>\u2019s military expenditure also grew by 11 per cent in 2023, reaching $16.6 billion.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018China is directing much of its growing military budget to boost the combat readiness of the People\u2019s Liberation Army,\u2019 said Xiao Liang, Researcher with SIPRI\u2019s Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme. \u2018This has prompted the governments of Japan, Taiwan and others to significantly build up their military capabilities, a trend that will accelerate further in the coming years.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

War and tensions in the Middle East fuel biggest spending increase of past decade<\/span><\/h3>\n

Estimated military expenditure in the Middle East increased by 9.0 per cent to $200 billion in 2023. This was the highest annual growth rate in the region seen in the past decade.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Israel<\/strong>\u2019s military spending\u2014the second largest in the region\u00a0after Saudi Arabia<\/strong>\u2014grew by 24 per cent to reach $27.5 billion in 2023. The spending increase was mainly driven by Israel\u2019s large-scale offensive in Gaza in response to the attack on southern Israel by Hamas in October 2023.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018The large increase in military spending in the Middle East in 2023 reflected the rapidly shifting situation in the region\u2014from the warming of diplomatic relations between Israel and several Arab countries in recent years to the outbreak of a major war in Gaza and fears of a region-wide conflict,\u2019 said Diego Lopes da Silva, Senior Researcher\u00a0with SIPRI\u2019s Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Military action against organized crime pushes up spending in Central America and the Caribbean<\/span><\/h3>\n

Military spending in Central America and the Caribbean in 2023 was 54 per cent higher than in 2014. Escalating crime levels have led to the increased use of military forces against criminal gangs in several countries in the subregion.<\/span><\/p>\n

Military spending by the Dominican Republic\u00a0<\/strong>rose by 14 per cent in 2023 in response to worsening gang violence in neighbouring Haiti. The Dominican Republic\u2019s military spending has risen steeply since 2021, when the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Mo\u00efse threw Haiti into crisis.<\/span><\/p>\n

In Mexico<\/strong>, military expenditure reached $11.8 billion in 2023, a 55 per cent increase from 2014 (but a 1.5 per cent decrease from 2022). Allocations to the Guardia Nacional (National Guard)\u2014a militarized force used to curb criminal activity\u2014rose from 0.7 per cent of Mexico\u2019s total military expenditure in 2019, when the force was created, to 11 per cent in 2023.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018The use of the military to suppress gang violence has been a growing trend in the region for years as governments are either unable to address the problem using conventional means or prefer immediate\u2014often more violent\u2014responses,\u2019 said Diego Lopes da Silva, Senior Researcher\u00a0with SIPRI\u2019s Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme.<\/span><\/p>\n

Other notable developments <\/span><\/h3>\n