Military spending worldwide reached an all-time high of $2.24 trillion in 2022, with a sharp increase in Europe due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
SIPRI noted that this was the eighth consecutive year of global military expenditure growth. Europe experienced a 13 percent increase in military spending, the steepest in at least 30 years, with most of it being linked to Russia and Ukraine.
However, other countries also increased military spending due to perceived Russian threats. Finnish and Lithuanian military spending rose by 36 and 27 percent, respectively. Lorenzo Scarazzato, a SIPRI researcher, noted that the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 was not the only factor driving military spending growth, as concerns about Russian aggression had been building for much longer.
SIPRI recorded the highest-ever single-year increase in military expenditure, with Ukraine’s military spending surging more than six times to $44 billion in 2022. In 2022 Ukraine’s defense spending represented 34 per cent of their annual GDP.
The United States remains the world’s largest military spender, accounting for 39 percent of total global military spending, with $877 billion spent in 2022. China remained the second-largest military spender, allocating an estimated $292 billion, and Japan spent $46 billion, the highest level of Japanese military spending since 1960.
Canada also announced plans to increase defense spending by $8 billion over the next five years.
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