Global military spending hits all-time high at $2.7 trillion in 2024: SIPRI

The world is rearming at the fastest pace since the end of the Cold War, driven by active wars and rising geopolitical tensions, according to a new report released on Monday by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

Military expenditure worldwide rose by 9.4% in 2024, reaching a record $2.718 trillion.

This marks the sharpest annual increase since 1988, just before the fall of the Berlin Wall, SIPRI said in its authoritative annual review.

“Many countries have also committed to raising military spending, which will lead to further global increases in the coming years,” the report noted

The report highlighted ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, as well as increasing military friction in regions including East Asia and Europe, as key drivers of the surge in spending.

The United States maintained its position as the world’s largest defence spender, accounting for almost $1 trillion in 2024.

Among major items in the US budget were $61.1 billion for F-35 stealth fighters and combat systems, $48.1 billion for new naval ships, and $37.7 billion toward modernising its nuclear arsenal. An additional $29.8 billion was allocated for missile defence.

The US also pledged $48.4 billion in military aid to Ukraine—nearly three-quarters of Kyiv’s own defence budget of $64.8 billion.

China ranked second after the United States in overall military spending in 2024, allocating an estimated $314 billion—just under one-third of the US total—according to the SIPRI report.

While the report did not provide a detailed breakdown of China’s spending by category or command, it noted that Beijing had unveiled several enhanced capabilities over the past year.

These included next-generation stealth combat aircraft, uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs), and uncrewed underwater systems.

China also continued the rapid expansion of its nuclear arsenal throughout 2024, SIPRI said.

Combined, the United States and China were responsible for nearly half of all global military expenditure last year.

The report also noted that the most significant spending increases came from countries either engaged in or anticipating regional conflict.

Israel, which launched a military operation in Gaza in late 2023, recorded a 65% jump in defence spending in 2024—the largest annual increase among all countries surveyed.

Meanwhile, Russia, which invaded Ukraine in 2022, showed an estimated increase of at least 38%, but the SIPRI noted that figure was likely higher as Moscow augments military coffers with money from regional and other sources.

The more than three-year-long conflict in Ukraine has seen NATO countries significantly boost their military budgets in response to Russia’s belligerence and as US President Donald Trump presses Europe and the US-led alliance to be more responsible for their defense, saying they’ve been taking advantage of the United States for too long.

Germany, with the world’s fourth-largest defense budget, upped its spending by 28%. Romania (43%), the Netherlands (35%), Sweden (34%), the Czech Republic (32%), Poland (31%), Denmark (20%), Norway (17%), Finland (16%), Turkey (12%) and Greece (11%), were the other NATO members among the top 40 defense spenders worldwide who showed double-digit increases in 2024.

“The rapid spending increases among European NATO members were driven mainly by the ongoing Russian threat and concerns about possible US disengagement within the alliance,’ said Jade Guiberteau Ricard, researcher with the SIPRI Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme.

But analysts said it may take more than money for US allies in Europe to become militarily self-sufficient.

“It is worth saying that boosting spending alone will not necessarily translate into significantly greater military capability or independence from the USA. Those are far more complex tasks,” SIRPI researcher Guiberteau Ricard said in a press release.

In the Indo-Pacific, the SIPRI said China’s 7% increase in 2024 marked the 30th consecutive year-over-year rise in spending for the People’s Liberation Army, “the largest unbroken streak recorded” in the institute’s database, the report said.

“China’s military build-up has also influenced the military policies of its neighbors, prompting many of them to increase spending,” it said.

Japan’s military budget rose 21% in 2024 – Tokyo’s largest increase since 1952. That brought military spending to 1.4% of gross domestic product, the biggest chunk of Japan’s economy devoted to the military since 1958.

The Philippines, embroiled with China in territorial disputes in the South China Sea, increased its defense spending 19%.
While South Korea increased its military budget by just 1.4% in 2024, it carried the highest military burden in East Asia at 2.6% of GDP, according to SIPRI.

Taiwan’s defence spending rose 1.8% last year. Despite the modest increase, the island’s military budget has surged 48% since 2015.

The self-governed democracy of 23 million remains under constant pressure from China, which claims it as part of its territory and has not ruled out using force to assert control.

India retained its position as the world’s fifth-largest military spender in 2024, with a budget of $86.1 billion. Although the year-on-year rise was just 1.6%, India’s defence spending has grown by 42% over the past decade—a sign of a broader regional trend, the report noted.

“Major military spenders in the Asia–Pacific region are investing increasing resources into advanced military capabilities with several unresolved disputes and mounting tensions, these investments risk sending the region into a dangerous arms-race spiral, ” said Nan Tian, Director of SIPRI’s Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme.

Elsewhere in Asia, Myanmar recorded a sharp 66% jump in defence spending in 2024. Since the military coup in 2021, internal conflict has intensified. At 6.8% of GDP, Myanmar’s military burden is now the highest in the Asia-Pacific.

In Africa, military expenditures rose by 3% in 2024. Algeria remained the continent’s top spender and ranked 20th globally.

In the Americas, Mexico posted a 39% rise in military spending, which SIPRI linked to the country’s increasingly militarised campaign against organised crime.