The US continues to be the driving force behind the surge in global military expenditure, spending $732bn last year, with China far behind in second place and India rounding out the top three, according to data provided by SIPRI.
Newly-released data by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) shows that global military spending in 2019 jumped by 3.6 percent in comparison to the previous year, reaching a mind-boggling $1,917 billion in what has become its biggest annual growth since 2010.
Although the increase in US military spending – which swelled by 5.3 percent – was not the biggest among other top spenders, the sheer size of Washington’s military expenditure eclipses that of all other countries by miles.
With $732 billion spent in 2019, the US accounts for 38 percent of global military spending. China, which increased its military spending by 5.1 percent, still has a long way to go to catch up with Washington – while it churned out a whopping $261 billion, that figure is still almost three times less than that of the US.
India, which was ranked fourth last year, climbed into the top three with a 6.8 percent yearly increase, which pushed its military spending to $71.1 billion.
“India’s tensions and rivalry with both Pakistan and China are among the major drivers for its increased military spending,” Siemon Wezeman, a SIPRI senior researcher, said.
Pakistan’s expenditure stands at $10.3 billion. SIPRI noted that it has risen by 70 percent since 2010.
Russia was the fourth-largest spender in 2019, after not making the top five the previous year. Moscow’s military expenditure rose 4.5 percent, standing at $65.1 billion.
Saudi Arabia rounded out the top five countries, which combined account for almost two-thirds (62 percent) of global military spending.
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