Global military spending hits a record in 2022
Global military spending rose 3.7% in 2022 to an all-time high of $2.24 trillion due to the impact of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
According to data from the Stockholm-based independent research organization International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), global military spending slowed due to inflation, despite hitting a record high last year.
The 13 percent growth in military spending in Europe was effective in rising in 2022, when global military spending reached an all-time high of $2.24 trillion.
THE PERIOD OF THE COLD WAR HAS PASSED
For the first time, Europe’s $345 billion military spending exceeded that at the end of the Cold War in 1989.
In Europe, Finland’s military spending rose 36 percent, Lithuania 27 percent, Sweden 12 percent and Poland 11 percent.
Russia’s military expenditures in 2022 amounted to $86.4 billion, an increase of 9.2 percent compared to the previous year. This figure represented 4.1 percent of Russia’s GDP.
Ukraine’s military spending was estimated at $44 billion, the highest annual spending on SIPRI records, rising 640 percent. As a result of war damage to the Ukrainian economy, this amount constituted 34 percent of the country’s GDP in 2022.
USA MADE THE HIGHEST SPENDING
US military spending, on the other hand, rose 0.7 percent last year to $877 billion despite rising inflation. The United States, which accounts for 39 percent of global military spending, ranked first in this context.
Financial military support of $19.9 billion to Ukraine was also effective in increasing US military spending in 2022.
THE HIGHEST MILITARY SPENDING IN JAPAN SINCE 1960
China, the world’s second-biggest military spender, allocated $292 billion to military spending last year.
China’s military spending increased 4.2 percent in 2022 compared with the previous year and has grown for 28 consecutive years.
Japan spent $46 billion on military spending in 2022. The figure, which increased by 5.9 percent compared to the previous year, constituted 1.1 percent of Japan’s GDP. The country’s military spending in 2022 was recorded as the highest level since 1960.
India became the fourth country with the highest military spending in 2022, with 81.4 billion dollars. India’s spending in this area increased by 6 percent compared to the previous year.
Saudi Arabia came in fifth with $75 billion in military spending.
MILITARY EXPENDITURES BY NATO MEMBERS $1.23 BILLION
NATO members’ military spending rose 0.9 percent to $1.23 trillion last year.
The country with the highest military spending in Central and Eastern Europe was the United Kingdom with 68.5 billion dollars. It is estimated that $2.5 billion of this figure was financial military support given to Ukraine.
TURKEY’S MILITARY SPENDING DECREASED BY 26 PERCENT
Turkey’s military spending, on the other hand, amounted to $10.6 billion last year, down 26 percent compared to 2021. Turkey ranked 23rd among the countries with the highest military spending last year.
Nan Tian, a senior fellow at SIPRI’s Military Expenditure and Arms Production Program, described the rise in global military spending as “a sign that we live in an increasingly insecure world.”
Stating that countries have increased their military spending against the deteriorating security environment, Tian said, “Countries do not expect this environment to improve in the near future.” (AA)