The latest report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) shows that global military expenditure reached US$2.24 trillion in 2022, a 3.7% year-on-year (yoy) increase. This is the highest figure ever recorded by SIPRI.
According to SIPRI, global military spending grew by 19% between 2013 and 2022 and has increased every year since 2015. The surge in global military expenditure last year was due to the Cold War, prompting many countries to increase their military budgets.
"The Russian invasion of Ukraine was a major driver of expenditure growth in 2022," SIPRI said, as quoted from its report titled *Trends In World Military Expenditure 2022*.
Military spending in Europe increased by 13% yoy in 2022, the largest growth in total European expenditure in the post-Cold War era.
"This exceptional growth was largely due to substantial increases in Russian and Ukrainian military spending, but many other European countries also increased their military budgets in 2022," SIPRI stated.
Nevertheless, the United States still leads the list of countries with the largest military budgets in 2022. The US military budget totaled US$877 billion, a slight increase of 0.7% yoy.
It is followed by China with a military budget of US$292 billion, up 4.2% yoy. Russia recorded a military budget of US$86.4 billion, a 9.2% year-on-year increase.
India and Saudi Arabia also had military budgets of US$81.4 billion and US$75 billion, respectively. According to SIPRI, these five countries with the largest military budgets accounted for 63% of total global military expenditure in 2022.
The following are the 10 countries with the largest military budgets in 2022:
1. United States: US$877 billion
2. China: US$292 billion
3. Russia: US$86.4 billion
4. India: US$81.4 billion
5. Saudi Arabia: US$75 billion
6. United Kingdom: US$68.5 billion
7. Germany: US$55.8 billion
8. France: US$53.6 billion
9. South Korea: US$46.4 billion
10. Japan: US$46 billion
Meanwhile, Indonesia ranked 27th globally. Indonesia's military budget last year was US$9 billion, a 1.3% year-on-year increase.