The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) reported on Monday that global military spending reached an all-time high of USD 2.1 trillion in 2021, with the United States, China, and India accounting for the top three spenders.
"In real terms, total worldwide military spending climbed by 0.7% in 2021, reaching USD 2113 billion. The United States, China, India, the United Kingdom, and Russia were the top five spenders in 2021, accounting for 62 percent of total spending "In a statement, the Stockholm-based company stated.
"World military spending reached unprecedented levels despite the economic consequences from the Covid-19 outbreak," stated Dr Diego Lopes da Silva, Senior Researcher with SIPRI's Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme. "Because of inflation, the rate of real-terms growth has slowed. Military spending, on the other hand, increased by 6.1 percent in nominal terms."
As a result of the economic recovery following the COVID-19 epidemic, defence spending reached 2.2 percent of global GDP in 2010, and 2.3 percent in 2020.
According to the announcement, US military spending in 2021 was USD 801 billion, down 1.4 percent from 2020. According to the statement, between 2012 and 2021, the US raised financing for military research and development by 24% while cutting spending on arms procurement by 6.4%.
China came in second, spending USD 293 billion on defence in 2020, up 4.7 percent from the previous year. India's military spending ranked third in the world last year, at USD 76.6 billion, up 0.9 percent from 2020.
India's military budget, at USD 76.6 billion, ranks third in the world, according to the Stockholm-based institution. This was an increase of 0.9% from 2020 and 33% from 2012. 64 percent of capital outlays in the military budget for 2021 were designated for procurement of locally produced armaments, as part of a push to develop the indigenous arms sector.
According to the announcement, the UK spent $ 68.4 billion on defence last year, up 3% from 2020.
Meanwhile, Russia ranked fifth in terms of defence spending.
"At a time when it was beefing up its forces near the Ukrainian border, Russia increased its military spending by 2.9 percent in 2021, to USD 65.9 billion. Russia's military spending increased for the third year in a row in 2021, reaching 4.1 percent of GDP "According to the statement.
High energy prices aided Russia's military spending increase in 2021, according to Lucie Beraud-Sudreau, Director of SIPRI's Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme, who also noted that Russia's military spending decreased between 2016 and 2019 due to low oil and gas prices as well as sanctions imposed on Russia.