Military spendingWorld military expenditure reaches $1.8 trillion in 2018
Military spending in Ukraine and several other Central and Eastern European countries rose sharply in 2018, largely in reaction to perceived threats from Russia, a leading research institute says. Total world military expenditure rose to $1822 billion in 2018, representing an increase of 2.6 percent from 2017, according to new data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
Military budget for FY 2018 // Source: dod.defense.gov
Total world military expenditure rose to $1822 billion in 2018, representing an increase of 2.6 percent from 2017, according to new data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). The five biggest spenders in 2018 were the United States, China, Saudi Arabia, India and France, which together accounted for 60 percent of global military spending. Military spending by the United States increased for the first time since 2010, while spending by China grew for the 24th consecutive year. The comprehensive annual update of the SIPRI Military Expenditure Database is accessible from today at www.sipri.org.
Total global military spending rose for the second consecutive year in 2018, to the highest level since 1988—the first year for which consistent global data is available. World spending is now 76 percent higher than the post-cold war low in 1998.* World military spending in 2018 represented 2.1 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP) or $239 per person. ‘In 2018 the USA and China accounted for half of the world’s military spending,’ says Dr. Nan Tian, a researcher with the SIPRI Arms and Military Expenditure (AMEX) programme. ‘The higher level of world military expenditure in 2018 is mainly the result of significant increases in spending by these two countries.’
The United States and China lead increase in world military expenditure
U.S. military spending grew—for the first time since 2010—by 4.6 percent, to reach $649 billion in 2018. The United States remained by far the largest spender in the world, and spent almost as much on its military in 2018 as the next eight largest-spending countries combined. “The increase in U.S. spending was driven by the implementation from 2017 of new arms procurement programmes under the Trump administration,” says Dr Aude Fleurant, the director of the SIPRI AMEX programme.
