New data on global military spending – published today – shows that last year it grew by 6.8% above inflation to a massive $2.44 trillion – the highest level since the end of the Cold War. The UK’s percentage increase – 7.9% – was higher than some of the largest NATO states including the USA, France and Italy. (Indeed, Italy actually saw a real term decrease in military spending.) The new spending data has been published by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
The ongoing war in Ukraine has continued to be a major driver of increasing military spending for both Ukraine and Russia, as well as for NATO states supplying military equipment to Kyiv. While Russian spending is up 24% compared to the past year, the major loses being sustained in Ukraine, both in terms of military personnel and equipment, means these levels are not sustainable.
Military spending by NATO states continues to dwarf Russian expenditure. Despite the large increase in the latter, total NATO spending is still over 12 times the size. Even NATO minus the USA still spends nearly 4 times as much. In the Americas, spending was up by 2.2%, although it saw slight drops in South and Central America. Spending in Asia and Oceania continued to rise, up by 4.4%. Europe saw the largest year-on-year increase in spending in the post-Cold War period, with spending increasing by 16%. The figure was even higher in Eastern Europe, driven in large part by a 75% increase in Poland. Elsewhere spending in the Middle East rose by 9.0% and in Africa the increase was 22%.
The data reinforces the picture painted by GCOMS-UK’s analysis of the British government’s budget in March. This revealed that core military spending had reached £54.2 billion for the previous year. GCOMS-UK analysis also showed that core military spending was 4.8 times the budget for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office – which is responsible for the vast majority of the UK’s overseas aid budget. It was 7.2 times the budget of the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero – which is responsible for government spending on climate action.
The new SIPRI data signals that the governments of most of the wealthiest nations in the world – including the UK – continue to prioritise military spending at the expense of measures that bring real security – such as tackling poverty, inequality and the multiple environmental crises.
Hence, GCOMS-UK echoes the call from the International Peace Bureau (IPB) urging all governments to prioritise the search for peace, a halt to arms races, and rapid, deep reductions in military spending.
