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According to a report, global military spending has reached a record $2.44 trillion after the largest annual increase in government arms spending in more than a decade, the Guardian writes.
The 6.8% increase between 2022 and 2023 is the sharpest since 2009, bringing spending to the highest level recorded by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri) in its 60 -year history.
For the first time, the think tank's analysts recorded an increase in military spending in all five geographic regions: Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Oceania, and the Americas.
Nan Tian, a senior researcher at Sipri's Military Spending and Arms Production Programme, warned of the increased risk of unforeseen conflict as governments race to arm themselves.
He said: "The unprecedented increase in military spending is a direct response to the global deterioration of peace and security. States are prioritizing military power, but risk spiraling from action to reaction in an increasingly volatile geopolitical and security landscape ".
The two largest countries - the US (37%) and China (12%) - account for about half of global military spending, increasing their spending by 2.3% and 6% respectively.
The US government has spent 9.4% more on "research, development, testing and evaluation" than it did in 2022 as Washington seeks to stay at the forefront of technological development.
Since 2014, when Russia first invaded Crimea and Ukraine's eastern Donbass region, the US has shifted its focus from counterinsurgency operations and asymmetric warfare to "developing new weapons systems that could be used in a potential conflict with adversaries with advanced military capabilities," the Sipri report said.
Although lagging behind the US in military spending, China, the world's second largest, has allocated an estimated $296 billion in 2023, a 6% increase over 2022. It has steadily increased its defense spending over the past 29 years , although the periods of greatest growth were in the 1990s and between 2003 and 2014.
According to Sipri, last year's single-digit growth reflects China's more modest economic performance of late.
Sipri's rankings are followed by Russia, India, Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom, which is the largest consumer in Central and Western Europe with growth of 7.9% year-on-year.
Kremlin military spending in 2023, after a year of full-scale war with Ukraine, is 24% higher than in 2022 and 57% higher than in 2014, when Russia invaded Crimea. With spending at 5.9% of GDP, which equates to 16% of total Russian government spending, 2023 marked the highest levels recorded since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Amid rising tensions with China and Pakistan, India's spending rose 4.2% from 2022 and 44% from 2014, reflecting increases in personnel and operational costs.
Sipri analysts noted that 75% of India's capital expenditure is on domestically produced equipment, the highest ratio ever, as India moves towards its goal of becoming self-sufficient in arms development and production.
The 4.3% increase in Saudi spending to an estimated $75.8 billion, or 7.1% of GDP, was attributed to increased demand for non-Russian oil and higher oil prices following Russia's invasion in Ukraine.
Spending in the Middle East rose 9% to approximately $200 billion, making it the region with the highest military spending as a share of GDP in the world at 4.2%, followed by Europe (2.8%), Africa ( 1.9%), Asia and Oceania (1.7%) and North and South America (1.2%)./BGNES
