2019 – Posted in: Daily News – Tags: current affairs, international institute, rise in military expenditure

US and China account for half of world’s military spending

For: Mains
Topics covered: Military Expenditure rises, Causes, SIPRI

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The five biggest spenders on military in 2018 were the United States, China, Saudi Arabia, India and France, which together accounted for 60% of global military spending.

Top 15 spenders – sipri – 2019

According to new data from the think-tank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI):

Total world military expenditure rose to $1,822 billion in 2018 (increase of 2.6% from 2017).
World military spending in 2018 represented 2.1% of global gross domestic product (GDP) or $239 per person.
In 2018 the USA and China accounted for half of the world’s military spending.
Military spending by the US increased and spending by China grew for the 24th consecutive year.
Pakistan grew by 11% (the same level of growth as in 2017), to reach $11.4 billion in 2018.
In 2018, India increased its military spending by 3.1% to $66.5 billion.
South Korean military expenditure was $43.1 billion in 2018—an increase of 5.1 per cent compared with 2017 and the highest annual increase since 2005.

USA and China lead increase in world military expenditure

US military spending grew—for the first time since 2010—by 4.6 per cent, to reach $649 billion in 2018. The USA remained by far the largest spender in the world, and spent almost as much on its military in 2018 as the next eight largest-spending countries combined.

China, the second-largest spender in the world, increased its military expenditure by 5.0 per cent to $250 billion in 2018. Its spending in 2018 was almost 10 times higher than in 1994, and accounted for 14 per cent of world military spending.

Growth in military spending in Asia and Oceania

Military expenditure in Asia and Oceania has risen every year since 1988. At $507 billion, military spending in the region accounted for 28 per cent of the global total in 2018, compared with just 9.0 per cent in 1988.

The tensions between countries in Asia as well as between China and the USA are major drivers for the continuing growth of military spending in the region.

Central and East European countries

Poland rose by 8.9 per cent in 2018 to $11.6 billion.
Ukraine’s spending was up by 21 per cent to $4.8 billion.
Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania and Romania also grew (ranging from 18 per cent to 24 per cent) in 2018.

The increases in Central and Eastern Europe are largely due to growing perceptions of a threat from Russia

Stockholm International Peace Research Institute

SIPRI is an international institute based in Sweden, dedicated to research into conflict, armaments, arms control and disarmament. Established in 1966, SIPRI provides data, analysis and recommendations, based on open sources, to policymakers, researchers, media and the interested public. SIPRI is based in Stockholm.

Source: Indian Express

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