Military expenditure across the globe touched a skyrocketing figure of USD 2.1 trillion in 2021, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said in a statement on Monday, according to ANI. 

The institute added that the United States, China and India occupied the top three ranks as the largest spenders in the world. 

“Total global military expenditure increased by 0.7 per cent in real terms in 2021, to reach USD 2113 billion. The five largest spenders in 2021 were the United States, China, India, the United Kingdom and Russia, together accounting for 62 per cent of expenditure,” the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said in the statement.

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“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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After the COVID-19 pandemic, the recovery of the world economy resulted in military spending that amounted to 2.2% of global GDP. In 2020, the figure increased by 0.1 %. 

After the US and China, India made it to the top 3 in military spending with an amount of USD 76.6 billion, a 0.9% spike from 2020 and a whopping 33% increase from 2012. In order to consolidate indigenous development, 64% of the capital in 2021’s military budget consisted of domestically produced weapons. 

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Meanwhile, Russia occupied the fifth rank. 

“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,” the statement said.