The feeling of a general threat hangs over the world, more and more countries show warmongering tendencies and traditional "high-intensity" warfare has reappeared on European soil with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. What could be more logical, then, than for global military spending to continue rising? By 2023, total military expenditure had reached $2,443 billion (€2,109 billion), up by 6.8% in real terms compared with 2022, states the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) in its annual report, which was published on Monday, April 22.
The leading institute – which aggregates weapons and administrative spending, personnel salaries and benefits and research and development costs, among others – highlighted that this was "the steepest year-on-year increase since 2009" and "an all-time high" for total military spending worldwide. All five continents were involved in this rise. The 31 North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member countries alone accounted for 55% of the world's military spending; and the 10 biggest spenders – led by the United States and China – allocated $1,799 billion to their militaries, which represents $105 billion more than in 2022. Although huge in absolute terms, these figures must be considered in their context: The total amount only represents 2.3% of the world's gross domestic product (GDP), or $306 "per person."
The fact remains that "states are prioritizing military strength, but they risk an action-reaction spiral in the increasingly volatile geopolitical and security landscape," warned Nan Tian, a senior researcher with Sipri's military expenditure and arms production program. Against this backdrop, the power and superiority of the US military-industrial complex has remained undiminished. Washington spent $916 billion (+2.3% from 2022), accounting for 68% of total NATO military spending – an amount far in excess of that of its partners. This has fueled Donald Trump's bitterness toward European countries he has deemed to be delinquent in their payments and his threats to stop coming to their aid.
"For European NATO states, the past two years of war in Ukraine have fundamentally changed the security outlook," noted Sipri researcher Lorenzo Scarazzato. The indicative defense spending target of 2% of national GDP, set 10 years ago, is "increasingly being seen as a baseline." 11 NATO countries have reached or exceeded this level, and others are on the way to doing so.
Changing outlook for the Middle East
For its part, Ukraine (the eighth country in the rankings) has entered into a war economy, devoting 58% of its budget to it. When combined with $35 billion in aid from its allies in 2023, the overall military expenditure represents 91% of Russia's. The latter country, meanwhile, increased its military spending by 24% to $109 billion in 2023 and by 57% overall since its annexation of Crimea in 2014. Defense industry spending artificially inflates growth, which will reach 3.2% worldwide in 2024, according to the International Monetary Fund.
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