The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) has published its annual "Trends in World Military Expenditure" for the year 2020. According to SIPRI's data, world military expenditure in 2020 was $1981 billion, 2.6% higher than in 2019.
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In 2020, the five biggest spenders were the United States, China, India, Russia, and the United Kingdom, accounting together for 62% of world military spending.
"There were some changes in the composition and rank order of the top 15 between 2019 and 2020. Most notably, Israel entered the top 15 in place of Turkey, and the United Kingdom moved above Saudi Arabia—whose military spending fell by 10 per cent—to become the fifth largest spender in 2020," said SIPRI in its report.
The United States accounted for 39% of the global total, followed by China 13%, India 3.7%, Russia 3.1%, and the United Kingdom 3%. US military expenditure grew by 4.4% in 2020, to $778 billion. China (1.9 %), India (2.1%), Russia (2.5 %) and the UK (2.9 %) all increased their military spending in 2020.
SIPRI's report indicates that in the first that military expenditure increased. "We can say with some certainty that the pandemic did not have a significant impact on global military spending in 2020," said Dr Diego Lopes da Silva, Researcher with the SIPRI Arms and Military Expenditure Programme. ‘It remains to be seen whether countries will maintain this level of military spending through a second year of the pandemic."
Download the full report here.
