Global military expenditure has reached a record high of $2440bn (£1970bn) after the largest annual rise in government spending on arms in over a decade, according to a report.
The 6.8% increase between 2022 and 2023 was the steepest since 2009, pushing spending to the highest recorded by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri) in its 60-year history.
For the first time, analysts at the thinktank recorded a rise in military outlay in all five geographical regions: Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Oceania and the Americas.
The two largest spenders – the United States (37%) and China (12%) – made up around half of global military spending, increasing their expenditure by 2.3% and 6% respectively.
Russia, India, Saudi Arabia and the UK – the largest spender in central and western Europe after a 7.9% year-on-year increase – follow in Sipri’s league table.
The Kremlin’s military expenditure in 2023, after a year of full-scale war with Ukraine, was 24% higher than in 2022 and 57% more than in 2014, when Russia invaded Crimea. With spending at 5.9% of GDP, equivalent to 16% of the Russian government’s total expenditure, 2023 marked the highest levels recorded since the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
Amid growing tensions with China and Pakistan, Indian spending was up by 4.2% from 2022 and by 44% from 2014, reflecting an increase in personnel and operational costs.
Expenditure in the Middle East rose by 9% to an estimated $200bn, making it the region with the highest military spend as a proportion of GDP in the world at 4.2%, followed by Europe (2.8%), Africa (1.9%), Asia and Oceania (1.7%) and the Americas (1.2%).
The military expenditure of Israel, second behind Saudi Arabia in the region but ahead of Turkey, grew by 24% to reach $27.5bn, driven mainly by its offensive in Gaza.
Iran was the fourth largest military spender in the Middle East. Its spending went up marginally (+0.6%) to $10.3bn. Sipri said the share of total military spending allocated to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had been increasing since at least 2019.
Ukraine became the world’s eighth biggest military spender in 2023, with an annual rise of 51% to reach $64.8bn, still only equivalent to 59% of Russia’s military spending that year.
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