The top three spenders — the United States, China and Russia — accounted for more than half of global spending – Copyright AFP Olga MALTSEVA
Johannes LEDEL
Global military spending will reach nearly $2.9 trillion in 2025, marking an 11th straight year of growth, researchers said Monday, as insecurity and rearmament fueled defense budgets.
The top three spenders – the United States, China and Russia – spent a total of $1.48 trillion, just over half of global spending.
Spending increased by 2.9 percent compared to 2024, despite a reduction by the US, the world’s biggest spender, according to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
Researcher Lorenzo Scarazzato told AFP that the drop from the US was more than offset by increases in Europe and Asia, as the world marked “another year of wars and rising tensions”.
Scarazzato said this was also reflected in the global “military burden” – the share of worldwide GDP devoted to military spending – which reached its highest level since 2009.
“Everything points to a world that feels less secure and is spending on its military to compensate for the global landscape,” he said.
The US spent $954 billion, 7.5 percent less than in 2024, largely because no new military financial aid was approved for Ukraine. By contrast, Washington pledged a total of $127 billion to Kiev over the previous three years.
But the reduction is expected to be short-lived as the US Congress has approved spending of more than $1 trillion for 2026, which could rise to $1.5 trillion in 2027 if US President Donald Trump’s budget proposal is approved.
The main driver of global growth was Europe – including Russia and Ukraine – where spending rose 14 percent to $864 billion.
“This is driven by two main factors. One is the ongoing war in Ukraine and the other is the reduced engagement of the US with Europe,” Scarazzato said.
He explained that the US is “pushing Europe to take more care of its defense”.
Germany, the fourth-biggest spender, increased spending by 24 percent in 2025 to $114 billion.
Spain also recorded a 50 percent increase to $40.2 billion, pushing military spending above two percent of GDP for the first time since 1994.
– Tensions in the Middle East –
The ongoing war in Ukraine led Russia and Ukraine to increase their military spending, with each recording the highest share of government spending allocated to the military.
Russia’s spending rose 5.9 percent to $190 billion, equivalent to 7.5 percent of GDP.
Ukraine, meanwhile, increased spending by 20 percent to $84.1 billion — 40 percent of GDP.
Despite ongoing tensions in the Middle East, spending in the region rose only slightly, by 0.1 percent, to $218 billion.
While most countries in the region increased spending, Israel and Iran actually saw declines.
In Iran, it fell by 5.6 percent to $7.4 billion, but this was mainly due to high annual inflation of 42 percent. In nominal terms, spending actually increased.
Israel’s 4.9 percent drop to $48.3 billion reflected a reduced intensity in the Gaza war following a January 2025 ceasefire agreement, the researchers explained, while noting that Israeli spending was still 97 percent higher than in 2022.
In Asia and Oceania, spending reached $681 billion, an increase of 8.5 percent from 2024 – the region’s largest annual increase since 2009.
Scarazzato said the “major player” in the region was China, which has increased spending every year for the past three decades and will spend about $336 billion in 2025.
“But perhaps what is interesting is the reaction of some other states, such as South Korea, Japan and Taiwan, reacting to the threat perception,” he said.
Japan increased military spending by 9.7 percent to $62.2 billion in 2025, equivalent to 1.4 percent of GDP — its highest percentage since 1958 — while Taiwan increased its spending by 14 percent to $18.2 billion.
