What do we see from the $2,240 billion global military spending?

World military spending is set to rise 3.7% to $2.24 trillion in 2022, an all-time high, as Russia's campaign in Ukraine has fueled a surge in military spending across Europe, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said on April 24.

Military spending in Europe rose by 13% – the highest increase in 30 years – largely driven by the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the leading defence think tank said in its annual report on global military spending.

“The continued rise in global military spending in recent years is a sign that we are living in an increasingly insecure world ,” said Nan Tian, senior researcher at SIPRI’s arms production and military expenditure programme. “Countries are strengthening their military capabilities in response to a deteriorating security environment that is unlikely to improve in the near future.”

Trend of increasing military spending

Russia's military campaign in Ukraine, which began in late February 2022, has unsettled other countries that share borders with Russia or were once part of the Soviet sphere of influence, leading to a 36% increase in defense spending in Finland and a 27% increase in Lithuania, according to SIPRI.

Earlier this month, Finland, which shares about 1,340 kilometers (833 miles) of border with Russia, became NATO's 31st member. Sweden, which has avoided the military alliance for more than 200 years, is also in the process of seeking approval for membership.

World - What can we see from the $2,240 billion global military spending? — Ukrainian soldiers fire a D30 howitzer near the city of Bakhmut, Donetsk region. The Russia-Ukraine conflict has fuelled the biggest increase in military spending in Europe in three decades, according to SIPRI. Photo: The Guardian

However, the trend of increasing military spending has been on the agenda of some governments for many years, and the Russia-Ukraine conflict has only accelerated that trend. “As a result, we can expect to see military spending in Central and Western Europe continue to rise in the coming years,” said Diego Lopes da Silva, a senior researcher at SIPRI.

In Western Europe, Germany is one of the countries breaking with the rules of the past. The Zeitenwende – a turning point announced by Chancellor Olaf Scholz last year – has ushered in the biggest rearmament for Germany since World War II.

Germany's military budget was the world's seventh-largest last year, behind the US, China, Russia, India, Saudi Arabia and the UK, and even bigger spending is planned.

France, South Korea and Japan are behind Germany and are in the top 10 countries with the largest defense spending in the world in 2022.

Europe as a whole, including Russia and Ukraine, increased its defense spending by 13% a year, according to SIPRI, which described the increase as “the largest annual increase in total European spending in the post-Cold War period.”

The "big guys" in defense spending

Military spending in Ukraine increased by 640% to $44 billion in 2022 – the highest one-year increase in military spending by a country ever recorded in SIPRI data. As a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP), the Eastern European country’s military spending rose to 34% in 2022, up from 3.2% the previous year.

Meanwhile, Russia's military spending is estimated to rise 9.2% in 2022, to about $86.4 billion, according to SIPRI. That would be equivalent to 4.1% of Russia's 2022 GDP, up from 3.7% in 2021.

The US remains the world’s largest military spender – up 0.7% to $877 billion in 2022, accounting for 39% of global military spending. This increase is largely driven by unprecedented levels of military aid provided by Washington to Kiev. According to SIPRI, total US military aid to Ukraine in 2022 was $19.9 billion.

The world's second-largest military spender is China, with an estimated allocation of $292 billion in 2022. This is up 4.2% from 2021 and the East Asian country's 28th consecutive annual increase.

Also in East Asia, Japan spent $46 billion on its military in 2022, up 5.9% from the previous year. This was Japan's highest military spending since 1960, SIPRI said.

Japan and China lead military spending in Asia and Oceania, at $575 billion. Military spending in the region has been on the rise since at least 1989.

India is the world's fourth-largest military spender at $81.4 billion in 2022, up 6% from 2021 and 47% from 2013, reflecting ongoing border tensions with both China and Pakistan.

The South Asian nation has earmarked 23 percent of the total expenditure to upgrade military equipment and infrastructure of its armed forces along disputed border areas.

With global military spending rising for the eighth consecutive year, 2022 could be just the beginning of a massive rearmament around the world, SIPRI senior researcher Diego Lopes da Silva concludes .

Minh Duc (According to Al Jazeera, The Guardian, Reuters)

Source