Report: Conflicts push military spending to ‘all-time high’

STOCKHOLM, Apr 22 – Global military spending saw the sharpest increase in more than a decade in 2023, reaching a record high of US$2.4 trillion (RM11.5 trillion), as wars and rising tensions fueled spending around the world, researchers said today.

Military spending rose around the world, with particularly large increases in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, according to a new report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

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“Total military spending is at an all-time high… and for the first time since 2009, we saw spending increase in all five geographic regions,” Nan Tian, ​​a senior researcher at SIPRI, told AFP.

Military spending rose 6.8 percent in 2023, the “steepest annual increase since 2009,” the report said.

“It is a reflection of the deterioration of peace and security around the world. There really is no region in the world where things have gotten better,” Tian said.

The United States, China, Russia, India and Saudi Arabia were the five largest spenders respectively.

The continuation of the war in Ukraine led to an increase in spending by Ukraine, Russia and “a whole range” of European countries, Tian said.

Russia increased spending by 24 percent, to $109 billion in 2023, according to SIPRI estimates.

Since 2014, when Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimea, the country’s military spending has increased by 57 percent.

Limited room

Ukraine’s military spending rose 51 percent to $64.8 billion, but the country also received $35 billion in military aid, most of it from the US, meaning its combined aid and spending was more than nine-tenths of Russia’s expenses amounted to.

Tian noted that while the total budgets of Moscow and Kiev were relatively close in 2023, Ukraine’s military spending was equivalent to 37 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and 58 percent of all government spending.

In contrast, in Russia, which has a larger economy, military spending was only 5.9 percent of GDP.

“So the scope for Ukraine to increase its spending is now very limited,” Tian said.

In Europe, Poland saw by far the largest increase in military spending, up 75 percent to $31.6 billion.

Spending also rose in the Middle East, where Israel – the region’s second-biggest spender – saw a 24 percent increase, to $27.5 billion in 2023 – mainly due to the country’s offensive in Gaza in response to the Hamas attack on October 7. .

Saudi Arabia, the Middle East’s biggest spender, also increased its spending by 4.3 percent to an estimated $75.8 billion.

The US – which spends more on its military than any other country – increased spending by 2.3 percent to $916 billion.

Increasing tensions

China has increased spending on its military for the 29th year in a row, increasing it by another six percent to an estimated $296 billion.

Beijing’s military buildup and rising tensions in the region have prompted neighboring countries to spend more on their militaries.

Japan spent $50.2 billion last year and Taiwan spent $16.6 billion, an increase of 11 percent for both countries.

The world’s fourth-largest spender, India, meanwhile, increased spending by 4.3 percent to $83.6 billion.

In Central America and the Caribbean, spending increases were instead driven by other struggles, such as the fight against organized crime.

For example, the Dominican Republic increased spending by 14 percent in response to increasing gang violence in neighboring Haiti that spread across the border.

Africa also saw military budgets rise.

The Democratic Republic of Congo more than doubled its spending (+105 percent) to $794 million, the largest percentage increase of any country, as tensions increased with neighboring Rwanda.

With a 78 percent increase, South Sudan had the second largest increase, to $1.1 billion.

With the war in Ukraine “far from over”, as well as the current situation in the Middle East and increased tensions in Asia, Tian said he believed countries would likely continue to strengthen their militaries.

“This upward trend is expected to continue for at least a few more years,” he said. – AFP