Worldwide Military Spending Grew 2.6% in 2020 Despite 4.4% COVID-led Decrease in Global GDP
Even as global GDP dropped by 4.4% owing to the coronavirus pandemic last year, the world continued decade-long trend of buying more weapons.
As per a report compiled by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), worldwide military spending last year rose 2.6% compared to 2019 figures, reaching $1.981 trillion. The United States ($778 billion or ~39% of global total), China ($252 billion), India ($72.9 billion), Russia ($61.7 billion), and the United Kingdom ($59.2 billion) are named among those nations with the largest military budgets.
Military expenditure by the top 15 countries reached $1.603 trillion in 2020 and accounted for 81% of global military spending. There were some changes in the composition and rank order of the top 15 between 2019 and 2020. Most notably, Israel entered the top 15 in place of Turkey, and the U.K. moved above Saudi Arabia—whose military spending fell by 10%—to become the fifth largest spender in 2020.
The report notes that the growth occurred amid a significant 4.4% decrease in global GDP, caused mainly by the pandemic, with the global military burden (as a share of global GDP) reaching 2.4 percent, and breaking the previous record of 2.2 percent. This is the highest military expenditure since the severe financial crisis of 2008-9.