Global military spending up to ‘all-time high’

STOCKHOLM—Global military expenditure rose by 6.8 percent in 2023 reaching an all-time high of $2.4 trillion as wars and rising tensions fueled spending across the world, researchers said on Monday.

Military spending rose across the globe with particularly large increases in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, according to a new report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri).

“Total military spending is at an all time high…and for the first time since 2009, we saw spending increase across all five geographical regions,” Nan Tian, a senior researcher at Sipri, told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

“It’s a reflection of the deterioration of peace and security around the world,” Tian said.The continuation of the war in Ukraine led to an increase in spending by Ukraine, Russia and “a whole host” of European countries, Tian said.

Russia boosted spending by 24 percent, reaching $109 billion in 2023, according to Sipri’s estimates.

Ukraine’s military spending rose by 51 percent, reaching $64.8 billion, but the country also received $35 billion in military aid, of which the majority came from the US.

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In Europe, Poland saw the largest increase in military spending by far, up by 75 percent to $31.6 billion. Spending also rose across the Middle East, where Israel—the region’s second-largest spender—saw a 24-percent increase, to $27.5 billion in 2023—mainly driven by the country’s offensive in Gaza in response to the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.

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

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The US increased spending by 2.3 percent to $916 billion while China boosted spending on its military for the 29th straight year, raising it by another six percent to an estimated $296 billion.

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

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