Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, April 25: The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) reported on Monday that global military spending reached an all-time high of USD 2.1 trillion in 2021, with the United States, China, and India accounting for the top three spenders.
“Total global military expenditure increased by 0.7 per cent in real terms in 2021, to reach USD 2113 billion. The five largest spenders in 2021 were the United States, China, India, the United Kingdom and Russia, together accounting for 62 per cent of expenditure,” the Stockholm based said in a statement.
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic’s economic recovery, defence spending reached 2.2 percent of worldwide GDP in 2010, and 2.3 percent in 2020.
According to the announcement, US military spending in 2021 was USD 801 billion, down 1.4 percent from 2020. According to the statement, between 2012 and 2021, the US raised financing for military research and development by 24% while cutting spending on arms procurement by 6.4%.
China came in second, spending USD 293 billion on defence in 2020, up 4.7 percent from the previous year. India’s military spending ranked third in the world last year, at USD 76.6 billion, up 0.9 percent from 2020.
India’s military budget, at USD 76.6 billion, ranks third in the world, according to the Stockholm-based institution. This was an increase of 0.9% from 2020 and 33% from 2012. 64 percent of capital outlays in the military budget for 2021 were designated for procurement of locally produced armaments, as part of a push to develop the indigenous arms sector.
According to the announcement, the UK spent $ 68.4 billion on defence last year, up 3% from 2020.
In 2021, high energy prices helped Russia to increase its military spending, Lucie Beraud-Sudreau, Director of SIPRI’s Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme, said, adding that between 2016-2019 Russia experienced a decrease in the military spending due to low prices of oil and gas as well as sanctions imposed on Russia.
