Global military expenditure increased by 3.7 % last year and reached a new record high of $2.24 trillion, with the three largest spenders being the United States, China and Russia, according to new data published on Monday by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
"World military spending grew for the eighth consecutive year in 2022 to an all-time high of $2,240 billion. By far the sharpest rise in spending (+13 per cent) was seen in Europe," SIPRI said in its report.
The United States remains the world’s biggest military spender with its military expenditure having reached $877 billion last year, which is 39% of total global military spending.
"The 0.7 per cent real-terms increase in US spending in 2022 would have been even greater had it not been for the highest levels of inflation since 1981," SIPRI said.
China was the world’s second largest military spender in 2022, having spent $292 billion, or 4.2% more than in 2021, according to SIPRI.
"Russian military spending grew by an estimated 9.2 per cent in 2022, to around $86.4 billion. This was equivalent to 4.1 per cent of Russia’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2022, up from 3.7 per cent of GDP in 2021," SIPRI said.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s military spending saw the highest single-year increase in a country’s military expenditure ever recorded in SIPRI data, reaching $44.0 billion in 2022, which was a 640% increase.