Military expenditure reaches record level in the second year of the pandemic

STOCKHOLM (TSAT) - The global military expenditure reached an all-time high of over $2 trillion in 2021, according to an international survey released Monday.

Total military spending rose 0.7% from the previous year and reached $2.113 trillion, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said.

In a statement, issued by SIPRI, said the global military burden, or world military expenditure as a share of world gross domestic product (GDP), fell by 0.1 percentage point from 2.3% in 2020 to 2.2% in 2021.

The five largest spenders in 2021 were the US, China, India, the UK and Russia, together accounting for 62% of expenditure, according to SIPRI.

‘Even amid the economic fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic, world military spending hit record levels,’ said Dr Diego Lopes da Silva, Senior Researcher with SIPRI’s Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme. 

‘There was a slowdown in the rate of real-terms growth due to inflation. In nominal terms, however, military spending grew by 6.1%,’ Silva added. 

As a result of a sharp economic recovery in 2021, the global military burden—world military expenditure as a share of world gross domestic product (GDP)—fell by 0.1 percentage points, from 2.3% in 2020 to 2.2%  in 2021.

United States focuses on military research and development

US military spending amounted to $801 billion in 2021, a drop of 1.4%  from 2020. The US military burden decreased slightly from 3.7% of GDP in 2020 to 3.5% in 2021.

US funding for military research and development (R&D) rose by 24 per cent between 2012 and 2021, while arms procurement funding fell by 6.4% over the same period. In 2021 spending on both decreased. However, the drop in R&D spending (–1.2 %) was smaller than that in arms procurement spending (–5.4 %), according to the report. 

Russia increases its military budget in the run-up to war

Russia increased its military expenditure by 2.9%  in 2021, to $65.9 billion ahead of its war in Ukraine.

 This was the third consecutive year of growth and Russia’s military spending reached 4.1% of GDP in 2021, its said. 

‘High oil and gas revenues helped Russia to boost its military spending in 2021. Russian military expenditure had been in decline between 2016 and 2019 as a result of low energy prices combined with sanctions in response to Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014,’ said Lucie Béraud-Sudreau, Director of SIPRI’s Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme.

The ‘national defence’ budget line, which accounts for around three-quarters of Russia’s total military spending and includes funding for operational costs as well as arms procurement, was revised upwards over the course of the year. The final figure was $48.4 billion, 14% higher than had been budgeted at the end of 2020, according to the survey. 

As it has strengthened its defenses against Russia, Ukraine’s military spending has risen by 72% since the annexation of Crimea in 2014. Spending fell in 2021, to $5.9 billion, but still accounted for 3.2% of the country’s GDP.

Continued increases by major spenders in Asia and Oceania

China, the world’s second largest spender, allocated an estimated $293 billion to its military in 2021, an increase of 4.7% compared with 2020. 

China’s military spending has grown for 27 consecutive years. The 2021 Chinese budget was the first under the 14th Five-Year Plan, which runs until 2025, said SIPRI in its report.

Following initial approval of its 2021 budget, the Japanese Government added $7.0 billion to military spending. As a result, spending rose by 7.3 % to $54.1 billion in 2021, the highest annual increase since 1972. Australian military spending also increased in 2021: by 4.0 %, to reach $31.8 billion.

‘China’s growing assertiveness in and around the South and the East China seas have become a major driver of military spending in countries such as Australia and Japan,’ said SIPRI Senior Researcher Dr Nan Tian. 

‘An example is the AUKUS trilateral security agreement between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States that foresees the supply of eight nuclear-powered submarines to Australia at an estimated cost of up to $128 billion.’

Other notable developments:         

• In 2021 Iran’s military budget increased for the first time in four years, to $24.6 billion. Funding for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps continued to grow in 2021—by 14% compared with 2020—and accounted for 34% of Iran’s total military spending.
• Eight European North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) members reached the Alliance’s target of spending 2% or more of GDP on their armed forces in 2021. 
• This is one fewer than in 2020 but up from two in 2014.
• Nigeria raised its military spending by 56% in 2021, to reach $4.5 billion. The rise came in response to numerous security challenges such as violent extremism and separatist insurgencies.
• Germany—the third largest spender in Central and Western Europe—spent $56.0 billion on its military in 2021, or 1.3%of its GDP. Military spending was 1.4% lower compared with 2020 due to inflation.
• In 2021 Qatar’s military spending was $11.6 billion, making it the fifth largest spender in the Middle East. Qatar’s military spending in 2021 was 434% higher than in 2010, when the country last released spending data before 2021.
• India’s military spending of $76.6 billion ranked third highest in the world. This was up by 0.9 %  from 2020 and by 33 % from 2012. In a push to strengthen the indigenous arms industry, 64% of capital outlays in the military budget of 2021 were earmarked for acquisitions of domestically produced arms.