A report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) revealed that global military spending crossed the USD 2.1 trillion mark and increased by 0.7% in 2021.

Countries that occupied the top five ranks were the United States, China, India, the United Kingdom and Russia. The five nations accounted for 62% of the global military expenditure, according to the data published by the institute. 

“Even amid the economic fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic, world military spending hit record levels,” said Dr Diego Lopes da Silva, Senior Researcher with SIPRI’s Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme.

“There was a slowdown in the rate of real-terms growth due to inflation. In nominal terms, however, military spending grew by 6.1 per cent,” the senior researcher added.

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US

Coming in at number one, the United States’ military spending amounted to $801 billion in 2021, a mighty figure that has a 1.4% drop from 2020. Focusing on military research and development, the US‘s funding increased by 24% between 2012 and 2021. Meanwhile, procurement of arms dropped to 6.4% during the time period.

“The increase in R&D spending over the decade 2012–21 suggests that the United States is focusing more on next-generation technologies. The US Government has repeatedly stressed the need to preserve the US military’s technological edge over strategic competitors,” said Alexandra Marksteiner, Researcher with SIPRI’s Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme.

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China

Taking the second spot, China spent USD 293 billion on defence spending, a spike of 4.7% from 2020. The country’s military expenditure has been booming for 27 consecutive years. 

India

India came in third, with a military expenditure of USD 76.6 billion in 2021. The figure is a 0.9% increase from 2020.

United Kingdom

With military spending of USD 68.4 billion, the UK became the fourth largest spender in the world. The figure was a 3% hike from its expenditure in 2020.

Also Read: United States’ Pentagon warns India against defense deals with Russia

Russia

Russia joined the list at number 5, with a figure of USD 65.9 billion.

“Russia increased its military expenditure by 2.9 per cent in 2021, to USD 65.9 billion, at a time when it was building up its forces along the Ukrainian border. This was the third consecutive year of growth and Russia’s military spending reached 4.1 per cent of GDP in 2021,” read a statement issued by the institute.