Global Military Spending Surpassed $2,000 Billion in 2021 – Putin Threat Will Accentuate This Trend.
The world of the coming years looks increasingly perilous.
The amount had been approached in 2020 and is now being largely exceeded in 2021. Despite an economic climate slowed by the COVID-19 pandemic and despite logistical disruptions and inflation, global military spending continued to rise, crossing the $2 trillion mark for the first time last year, according to the annual report of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the leading think tank.
This total, which aggregates the costs of personnel, research, and equipment acquisition, stands at 2,113 billion dollars, or 2.2% of world GDP:
It was 2.3% in 2020. Here's what SIPRI researcher Diego Lopes da Silva says in the SIPRI annual report:
“There is a slowdown in the proportion due to inflation. In nominal terms, on the other hand, military spending grew by 6.1%.”
America is still far ahead in military spending
This is the seventh consecutive year of increases since 2015, whereas the first half of the 2010 decade was marked by a decline in spending. Beyond the numbers, a global trend is emerging: it is time for rearmament, motivated by regional tensions (China and its neighbors, the two Koreas, Russia, and Ukraine) and a race for technology, which are pushing states to spend a significant portion of their budgets on ever more effective and expensive equipment.
Tools to defend against chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear weapons, communication systems, cyber security, intelligence, ammunition ... modern armies are not necessarily the most plentiful but the best equipped to respond to today's conflicts.
The United States has understood this, with R&D spending increasing by 24% between 2012 and 2021, while arms purchases fell by 6.4%, notes SIPRI. The increase in R&D spending “suggests that the United States is focusing more on the latest generation of technologies to maintain its lead over its strategic competitors,” observes researcher Alexandra Marksteiner.
After having grown continuously since 2015, the allocated credits will however mark time in 2021, both in R&D (-1.2%) and in arms purchases (-5.4%). However, Washington still accounts for almost 40% of global spending, with $801 billion, up 2.8% year-on-year but down slightly when inflation is taken into account.
A catch-up effect in many countries
Elsewhere, it is rather a catch-up effect that is taking place. With 293 billion dollars spent (+4.7% over one year), China, which is carrying out a vast reorganization of its land, air, and sea armies, is experiencing its 27th consecutive year of increase! Japan spent 7 billion more than the previous year, the most significant increase since 1972. And Australia follows suit (31.8 billion, + 4%).
Researcher Nan Tian gives a convincing justification:
“China's growing hold south and east of its borders is a major driver of spending for countries like Australia and Japan.”
Europe, which has given up on reaping the “peace dividend,” is not left out. The United Kingdom, now the fourth-largest spender, is overtaking Russia with $68.3 billion (+11.1%). Boris Johnson, who aims to make the Royal Navy the most powerful fleet on the Old Continent, launched a vast investment program at the end of 2020, with a focus on new technologies. With 56.6 billion dollars, France has jumped from 8th to 6th place, according to Sipri.
The French army is also committed to catching up and is benefiting from a major financial effort in the military programming law (295 billion euros over the period 2019-2025) to modernize its infrastructure and capabilities. This will continue to make it the leading military power on the Old Continent.
Military spending will increase again in 2022
Elsewhere in Europe, it is certain that spending will increase sharply because of the existential threat posed by Vladimir Putin and his megalomania. Germany, for example, has just completely changed its strategy because of Russia's war in Ukraine by announcing a military investment plan of 100 billion euros to modernize its defense.
We are talking about catching up here. Future investments will also increase, which suggests that the 2021 record for global military spending will be largely broken in 2022. This is unfortunate since it also means that the world we are moving into will be increasingly perilous, and peace more complex to maintain.
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