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stockholm international peace research institute
US Led 'Unprecedented' Surge in Global Military Spending in 2024
"As governments increasingly prioritize military security, often at the expense of other budget areas, the economic and social trade-offs could have significant effects on societies for years to come," said one expert.
Apr 28, 2025
Military spending worldwide soared to $2.718 trillion last year, meaning it "has increased every year for a full decade, going up by 37% between 2015 and 2024," according to an annual report released Monday.
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) has tracked conflict, disarmament, and weapons for nearly six decades. Its 2024 spending report states that "for the second year in a row, military expenditure increased in all five of the world's geographical regions, reflecting heightened geopolitical tensions across the globe."
In a Monday statement, Xiao Liang, a researcher with the SIPRI Military Expenditure and Arms Production Program, highlighted that "over 100 countries around the world raised their military spending in 2024."
"It was the highest year-on-year increase since the end of the Cold War."
"This was really unprecedented... It was the highest year-on-year increase since the end of the Cold War," Liang told Agence France-Press, while acknowledging that there may have been larger jumps during the Cold War but Soviet Union data is not available.
Liang warned that "as governments increasingly prioritize military security, often at the expense of other budget areas, the economic and social trade-offs could have significant effects on societies for years to come."
The United States—whose Republican lawmakers are currently cooking up a plan to give even more money to a Pentagon that's never passed an audit—led all countries, with $997 billion in military spending. The report points out that the U.S. not only allocated "3.2 times more than the second-largest spender," but also "accounted for 37% of global military expenditure in 2024 and 66% of spending by North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) members."
In the second spot was China, with an estimated $314 billion in spending. Nan Tian, director of the SIPRI Military Expenditure and Arms Production Program, raised the alarm about spending in Asia.
"Major military spenders in the Asia-Pacific region are investing increasing resources into advanced military capabilities," said Tian. "With several unresolved disputes and mounting tensions, these investments risk sending the region into a dangerous arms-race spiral."
In third place was Russia, with an estimated $149 billion in spending. Russia remains at war after launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Rounding out the top five were Germany ($88.5 billion) and India ($86.1 billion).
They were followed by the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine, France, Japan, South Korea, Israel, Poland, Italy, and Australia. The report says that "together, the top 15 spenders in 2024 accounted for 80% of global military spending ($2,185 billion) and for 79% of the total increase in spending over the year. All 15 increased their military spending in 2024."
"The two largest year-on-year percentage increases among this group were in Israel (+65%) and Russia (+38%), highlighting the effect of major conflicts on spending trends in 2024," the publication continues. Israel has been engaged in a U.S.-backed military assault on the Gaza Strip—globally condemned as genocide—since October 2023.
"Russia once again significantly increased its military spending, widening the spending gap with Ukraine," noted SIPRI researcher Diego Lopes da Silva. "Ukraine currently allocates all of its tax revenues to its military. In such a tight fiscal space, it will be challenging for Ukraine to keep increasing its military spending."
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday announced an upcoming three-day truce to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. In response, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for an immediate monthlong cease-fire.
All NATO members boosted military spending last year, which SIPRI researcher Jade Guiberteau Ricard said was "driven mainly by the ongoing Russian threat and concerns about possible U.S. disengagement within the alliance."
"It is worth saying that boosting spending alone will not necessarily translate into significantly greater military capability or independence from the USA," the expert added. "Those are far more complex tasks."
Another SIPRI researcher, Lorenzo Scarazzato, highlighted that "for the first time since reunification Germany became the biggest military spender in Western Europe, which was due to the €100 billion special defense fund announced in 2022."
"The latest policies adopted in Germany and many other European countries suggest that Europe has entered a period of high and increasing military spending that is likely to continue for the foreseeable future," Scarazzato said.
As for the Middle East, SIPRI researcher Zubaida Kari said that "despite widespread expectations that many Middle Eastern countries would increase their military spending in 2024, major rises were limited to Israel and Lebanon."
In addition to slaughtering at least tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza over the past nearly 19 months, Israel has killed thousands of people in Lebanon while allegedly targeting the political and paramilitary group Hezbollah. Kari said that elsewhere in the region, "countries either did not significantly increase spending in response to the war in Gaza or were prevented from doing so by economic constraints."
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'Scandalous': G7 Nations Spend 62 Times More on Military Than Humanitarian Aid
"More must be invested in eradicating poverty and fostering peace and development, not fueling war and destruction," said one campaigner.
Jun 14, 2024
Despite historic levels of forced displacement due to armed conflict, Group of Seven member countries have increased their military expenditures to record highs while they slash spending on humanitarian aid for people affected by wars that these powerful nations often started or stoked, an analysis published Friday revealed.
According to Birmingham, England-based Islamic Relief Worldwide, military spending by G7 members Canada, France, Italy, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States—which wrapped up Friday in Puglia, Italy—rose to $1.2 trillion last year, the overwhelming bulk of that amount attributable to the U.S.' $886.3 billion Pentagon budget.
"Too many governments are putting far more resources towards acquiring weapons of war than helping those suffering the deadly impacts of conflict."
That's a 7.3% increase over 2022 levels, and 62 times what those countries spent on all humanitarian aid in response to wars and disasters.
"From Gaza to Sudan, Ukraine to Myanmar, we see millions of lives destroyed by war," Islamic Relief head of global advocacy Shahin Ashraf said in a statement. "The humanitarian needs today are greater than ever before, so it's scandalous that many wealthy G7 nations are cutting aid while spending more than ever before on weapons."
It's not just the G7. According to this year's Stockholm International Peace Research Institute annual analysis, global military spending increased 6.8% to a record $2.4 trillion in 2023.
"Too many governments are putting far more resources towards acquiring weapons of war than helping those suffering the deadly impacts of conflict," Ashraf asserted. "More must be invested in eradicating poverty and fostering peace and development, not fueling war and destruction."
Islamic Relief Worldwide said:
While some of the discussions at the G7 summit focus on restricting immigration into rich developed nations, most people displaced by conflict remain in war-torn countries and impoverished neighbouring countries. After more than a year of brutal war, Sudan is now the world's biggest displacement crisis with over 10 million people—about a quarter of the population—now forced from their homes. The vast majority of people fleeing the violence in Sudan remain in the country, with many receiving aid from local communities, youth groups, and mosques.
"As rich nations increasingly shut their borders and cut aid, in places like Sudan it is heartening to see the generosity of some of the world's poorest communities taking displaced people into their homes and sharing their food and water with them," said Ashraf. "But they need more international support, especially from the wealthiest countries."
Another analysis published ahead of the G7 summit by Oxfam International revealed that just 3% of the seven countries' 2023 military expenditures would be enough to "help end world hunger and solve the debt crisis in the Global South."
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'Halt This Madness': US Drove Last Year's Over $1.9 Trillion in Global Military Spending
"The COVID-19 crisis has made clearer than ever the flaws in our system, one that prioritizes military spending and global instability over the well-being of our people."
Apr 27, 2020
A new analysis on Monday showing that the world's military spending surpassed $1.9 trillion last year, once again led by the United States under President Donald Trump, provoked demands that governments across the globe prioritize peace and the health of people as the coronavirus pandemic continues to ravage the planet.
The latest annual report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) found that the top military spenders after the U.S. were China, India, Russia, and Saudi Arabia. Total spending in 2019 was 3.6% higher than in the previous year and accounted for 2.2% of global gross domestic product (GDP).
"Global military expenditure was 7.2% higher in 2019 than it was in 2010, showing a trend that military spending growth has accelerated in recent years," SIPRI researcher Nan Tian said in a statement. "This is the highest level of spending since the 2008 global financial crisis and probably represents a peak in expenditure."
The report was released Monday as the global number of confirmed COVID-19 cases climbed toward three million and the pandemic's death toll stood at over 207,000. Highlighting the new SIPRI data in the midst of the outbreak Monday, the U.K.-based Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) declared on Twitter that "out of this crisis we must build a world where real human needs are prioritized."
\u201cNew data released today by @SIPRIorg shows a post-WW2 record in global military spending in 2019 of $1917 billion. Out of this crisis we must build a world where real human needs are prioritised. Time to #MoveTheMoney #HealthcareNotWarfare #JustRecovery @DemilitarizeDay\u201d— CAAT (@CAAT) 1587986628
In a statement responding to the analysis, the International Peace Bureau (IPB) also pointed to the public health crisis as evidence of the need for a worldwide shift in priorities.
"The COVID-19 crisis has made clearer than ever the flaws in our system, one that prioritizes military spending and global instability over the well-being of our people," IPB said. "Indeed, global priorities are wrong; it is time for a new era of peace, a global ceasefire as called for by the U.N. and people around the globe. Let us demilitarize the world and invest in global peace and diplomacy."
Sharing a SIPRI infographic, IPB co-president Philip Jennings tweeted: "The military industry complex is raking it in and we don't feel safer. Time to halt this madness."
\u201cThe military industry complex is raking it in and we don\u2019t feel safer.Time to halt this madness.@IntlPeaceBureau\u201d— Philip Jennings (@Philip Jennings) 1587935096
The SIPRI findings, as the statement from Jennings' group noted, were published during IPB's Global Days of Action on Military Spending (GDAMS), which run from April 10 to May 9 and "highlight the need to reallocate military expenditure to confront COVID-19 and the urgent social and environmental crises."
The new analysis followed a National Priorities Project report from last week that warned against a global pandemic response which aims to return to an old normal "defined by unfettered capitalism that thrives on the devastation of our planet, the devaluation of human life, and the use of military force to perpetuate both."
The SIPRI report also came after a bipartisan group of U.S. congressmembers were lambasted by progressives in late March for pressuring their fellow federal lawmakers to approve the purchasing of 19 more F-35 fighters than the Pentagon requested in an upcoming defense bill. The anti-war group Peace Pledge Union responded by criticizing the "outrageous priorities of militarists during the coronavirus pandemic."
Military spending by the United States--which has been the global epicenter of the pandemic for the past month--soared to $732 billion in 2019, accounting for 38% of the global military expenditure and representing a rise of 5.3% from the previous year. SIPRI senior researcer Pieter D. Wezeman said that "the recent growth in U.S. military spending is largely based on a perceived return to competition between the great powers."
\u201cWho were the top 10 military spenders in 2019?\n\n1) USA\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\n2) China\ud83c\udde8\ud83c\uddf3\n3) India\ud83c\uddee\ud83c\uddf3\n4) Russia\ud83c\uddf7\ud83c\uddfa\n5) Saudi Arabia\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\udde6\n6) France\ud83c\uddeb\ud83c\uddf7\n7) Germany\ud83c\udde9\ud83c\uddea\n8) UK\ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7\n9) Japan\ud83c\uddef\ud83c\uddf5\n10) South Korea\ud83c\uddf0\ud83c\uddf7\n\nTogether they spent $1430 billion, accounting for 75% of global military spending \u27a1\ufe0f https://t.co/ZSlbz8iP16\u201d— SIPRI (@SIPRI) 1587975861
"There were increases in military spending by China (5.1%), India (6.8%), and Russia (4.5%). Spending fell in Saudi Arabia by 16%," according to SIPRI. China, in the second spot behind the U.S., spent $261 billion in 2019, and India, which ranked third globally, spent $71.1 billion.
"India's tensions and rivalry with both Pakistan and China are among the major drivers for its increased military spending," explained Siemon T. Wezeman, another SIPRI senior researcher.
Although, as the SIPRI statement pointed out, "the increase in U.S. spending in 2019 alone was equivalent to the entirety of Germany's military expenditure for that year," the European country's spending still rose by 10% last year to $49.3 billion, which was the largest increase among the top 15 ranked countries.
"The growth in German military spending can partly be explained by the perception of an increased threat from Russia, shared by many North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member states," said SIPRI researcher Diego Lopes da Silva. "At the same time, however, military spending by France and the United Kingdom remained relatively stable."
Russia, ranked fourth globally, boosted its military spending by 4.5% to $65.1 billion in 2019. SIPRI researcher Alexandra Kuimova noted that "at 3.9% of its GDP, Russia's military spending burden was among the highest in Europe in 2019."
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