World Military Spending Rises to Record as Insecurity Swells
- Inflation-adjusted defense expenditure grew 3.7% in 2022
- European nations spent most since the end of Cold War
Finnish soldiers at a shooting range during a military exercise at the Santahamina military base in Helsinki, Finland on March 7, 2023.
Photographer: Alessandro Rampazzo/AFP/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
Global military spending rose to a record last year, spurred by a policy U-turn in Europe where governments boosted capabilities by the most since the end of the Cold War in the wake of Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine.
Defense expenditure increased by 3.7% in real terms to reach a record high of $2.24 trillion in 2022, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, SIPRI, said on Monday. About half the annual increase was due to Ukraine’s ballooning military budget, according to data for the eastern European country that excludes foreign aid.