Global military spending rose again in 2021, setting a new record as Russia continued to increase its pre-invasion budget. The trend will continue, in Europe in particular.
Despite the economic fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic, countries around the world are upgrading their arsenals, with global military spending increasing 0.7% last year, according to a Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) report.
"In 2021, military spending rose for the seventh time in a row to reach US$ 2.1 trillion. That is the highest figure we have ever had," Diego Lopes da Silva, a senior researcher at Sipri, told AFP as quoted by Channel News Asia.
Russia's military spending grew 2.9%, the third year of growth in a row, to $65.9 billion.
The defense budget accounts for 4.1% of Russia's gross domestic product (GDP), "much higher than the world average", and makes Moscow the world's fifth-largest spender, Lopes da Silva said.
High revenues from the oil and gas sector helped Russia increase military spending. Lopes da Silva noted that the country of the red bear saw a sharp increase in its defense budget towards the end of the year.
"It happened when Russia was gathering troops along the Ukrainian border, before, of course, the invasion of Ukraine in February," he said.
On the other hand, Ukraine's military spending has jumped 72% since Russia's annexation of Crimea. However, spending will decline by more than 8% in 2021 to $5.9 billion, still accounting for 3.2% of Ukraine's GDP.
As tensions rise in Europe, more NATO member states are increasing military spending.
Eight NATO member states last year achieved their military spending target of 2% of GDP. Lopes da Silva estimates that the defense budget in Europe will continue to grow.
Meanwhile, the United States (US), which far exceeds other countries with US$801 billion, is actually going against global trends and lowering its military spending by 1.4% in 2021.
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