Global military spending rose again in 2021 and set new records as Russia continued to build up its military ahead of its invasion of Ukraine, researchers said yesterday, and they expected the trend to continue in Europe in particular.
Despite the economic fallout from the Covid pandemic, countries around the world have increased their arsenals, with global military spending up 0.7% last year, according to a report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri).
“In 2021, military spending rose for the seventh consecutive time to $2.1 trillion, the highest ever,” Diego López da Silva, senior fellow at the institute, told AFP.
Russia’s spending rose 2.9 percent for the third straight year of growth to $65.9 billion, and López da Silva said defense spending accounts for 4.1 percent of Russia’s gross domestic product, “well above the world average” and ranks Moscow fifth in the world in terms of arms spending. . . .
High oil and gas revenues helped the country increase military spending, and López da Silva noted that Russia was seeing a sharp increase in spending towards the end of the year: “It happened when Russia concentrated its forces along the Ukrainian border before invading Ukraine in February, of course.” .
On the other hand, Ukraine’s military spending has increased by 72 percent since the annexation of Crimea, and although spending fell by more than 8 percent to $5.9 billion in 2021, it still represents 3.2 percent of Ukraine’s GDP.
As tensions escalate in Europe and spending by more NATO countries increases, López da Silva said he expects spending in Europe to continue to rise.
The Swedish Institute said that eight member states met their spending target of 2% of gross domestic product last year, less than one country from the previous year but significantly more than just two countries in 2014.
The United States, which is ahead of the rest, having spent $801 billion, actually went against the global trend and reduced its spending by 1.4% in 2021.
For its part, China, the world’s second-largest military spender at around $293 billion, increased its spending by 4.7%, recording its 27th straight year of spending growth.
The country’s military build-up, in turn, has led its neighbors in the region to increase their military budgets.
Australia also spent 4 percent more on its military, reaching $31.8 billion in 2021.
India, the world’s third-biggest spender at $76.6 billion, increased funding for its arsenal in 2021, but by a more modest 0.9%.
