Military spending increases worldwide: What new SIPRI data says (2023)

FAQs

How much does Russia spend on military sipri? ›

Russian military spending grew by an estimated 9.2 per cent in 2022, to around $86.4 billion. This was equivalent to 4.1 per cent of Russia's gross domestic product (GDP) in 2022, up from 3.7 per cent of GDP in 2021.

Over a 20-year period, a 1% increase in military spending will decrease a country's economic growth by 9%.

The economic cost of defense spending shows up in the national debt and in a dislocation of potential jobs from the private sector to the public. There is an economic distortion of any industry that the military relies on as resources are diverted to produce better fighter planes and weapons.

The “World Military Expenditures and Arms Transfers” (WMEAT) series of publications is designed to be a convenient reference on annual military expenditures, arms transfers, armed forces, selected economic data, and relative indicators consisting of pertinent military-economic ratios.

The three largest spenders in 2022—the United States, China and Russia—accounted for 56 per cent of the world total, according to new data on global military spending published today by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

U.S. defense spending increased by $71 billion from 2021 to 2022, in part due to a military aid sent to support Ukraine in its ongoing conflict, and the United States now spends more on defense than the next 10 countries combined (up from outspending the next 9 countries combined in 2021).

Defense spending generates jobs directly and can improve economic output indirectly through the spillover of technology and human capital to the civilian economy. However, defense spending also has opportunity costs because it diverts resources from government programs that might do more to promote growth.

On March 9, 2023, the Biden-Harris Administration submitted to Congress a proposed Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 Budget request of $842 billion for the Department of Defense (DoD), an increase of $26 billion over FY 2023 levels and $100 billion more than FY 2022.

How can we reduce military spending? ›

Those goals can be achieved in a number of ways, primarily through four elements of national power: diplomatic actions, such as building coalitions; information campaigns to influence world opinion; military actions to deter and counter aggression; and economic actions, such as opening trade or imposing sanctions.

The statistic represents the U.S. defense outlays from 2000 to 2021 with an additional forecast from 2022 to 2032, as a percentage of the gross domestic product. Defense outlays amounted to 742 billion U.S. dollars in 2021, which was about 3.3 percent of the U.S. GDP.

The United States was the top nation in terms of military expenditure, spending $801 billion to make up almost 38% of global military spending in 2021. America has been the top military spending nation since SIPRI began tracking in 1949, making up more than 30% of the world's military spending for the last two decades.

The U.S. had by far the largest military budget at $767.8 billion in 2021, but China's outlay was also quite large at $270 billion. In comparison, the other four nations had more modest outlays, ranging from Saudi Arabia's $53.8 billion to India's $73.6 billion.

Approximately 20 percent of the federal budget is spent on defense and security.

The United States has the highest military spending of any nation. Its military spending includes all of the Department of Defense's regular activities, war spending, the nuclear weapon program, international military assistance, and other Pentagon-related spending.

United States. The United States of America is a North American nation that is the world's most dominant economic and military power.

NATO countries meeting the guideline to spend 2% of GDP on defence. These countries are Greece, the USA, the UK, Poland, Latvia, Estonia and Croatia. The UK remains the 2nd largest spender in NATO , after the USA. UK expenditure on defence as a percentage of national GDP in 2021.

United States remains the most powerful country in Asia as China's influence declines, study shows.

The combined total of Nato military personnel currently exceeds 5.4 million – around four times as many as Russia, according to Statista. It has about five times as many aircraft, four times as many armoured vehicles and three times as many military ships.

How strong is Russia's military compared to NATO? ›

Comparison of the military capabilities of NATO and Russia 2023. As of 2023, NATO had approximately 3.36 million active military personnel compared with 1.33 million active military personnel in the Russian military.

President Joe Biden's national defense budget request comes in at $886.3 billion, with $842 billion to DOD alone. This is a $26 billion increase over the fiscal 2023 enacted budget.

United States is ranked 1 of 145 out of the countries considered for the annual Global Firepower review. The nation holds a Power Index score of 0.0712 with a score of 0.0000 being considered exceptional in the GFP assessment. This country is a Top 5 world power according to the GFP index formula.

Putting aside the very real human cost, war has also serious economic costs – damage to infrastructure, a decline in the working population, inflation, shortages, uncertainty, a rise in debt and disruption to normal economic activity.

War is often used as a last ditch effort to prevent deteriorating economic conditions or currency crises, particularly by expanding services and employment in the military, and by simultaneously depopulating segments of the population to free up resources and restore the economic and social order.

The DoD contributes billions of dollars each year to state economies through the operation of military installations. This spending helps sustain local communities by creating employment opportunities across a wide range of sectors, both directly and indirectly.

Federal government spending pays for everything from Social Security and Medicare to military equipment, highway maintenance, education, and more. In 2022, the federal government spent the most on Social Security.

The U.S. Armed Forces has significant capabilities in both defense and power projection due to its large budget, resulting in advanced and powerful technologies which enables a widespread deployment of the force around the world, including around 800 military bases outside the United States.

Intangible qualities like leadership, comraderie, discipline and determination are perhaps the most rewarding of all military benefits. Still, it's nice to know that service in the Military comes with tangible benefits too, including education, medical/dental care, 30 days of paid vacation, travel discounts and more.

Why is decreasing military spending good? ›

In 1989, former Defense Secretary Robert McNamara suggested that a 50 percent cut in Pentagon funding over five years would “enhance global stability, strengthen [U.S.] security and, at the same time, produce the resources to support a much-needed restructuring of the economy.” Today, with a more modest—but global—2 ...

It is critical because in defense, dollars are policy. The country cannot provide for its security in a cost-effective manner unless it funds the right amount of personnel and weapons to implement its National Security Strategy.

First, an increase in defense spending might increase inflation from the demand side. According to both the classical and Keynesian models, inflation occurs when the aggregate demand exceeds the aggregate supply (Abel et al., 2014).

China's defense budget grew by 7.1% last year to 1.45 trillion yuan, faster than the 6.8% increase in 2021 and 6.6% climb in 2020, according to official data. In 2019, China's defense spending rose by 7.5% to 1.19 trillion yuan.

Global military spending hit a new record high last year, with the United States accounting for 39% of the global total, according to a new report. Spending on the world's armed forces soared for the eighth consecutive year in 2022, reaching an astonishing new high of $2.24 trillion.

Not only does the manufacture and sale of firearms and hunting supplies create good jobs in the United States, but the industry also contributes to the economy as a whole. In fact, in 2022 the firearm and ammunition industry was responsible for as much as $80.73 billion in total economic activity in the country.

China wields by far the world's largest military, with 2.8 million soldiers, sailors and airmen—twice the American number. (The United States is number two; the only other countries with more than a million active duty troops are China's neighbors—Russia, India and North Korea.)

The United States still makes up the lion's share, with its $801 billion in 2021 representing 39% of the world's military spending. That's more than the next nine countries combined — still more than 3 years ago when it was merely larger than the next seven combined.

Military spending, percent of GDP, 2021 - Country rankings:

The average for 2021 based on 145 countries was 1.87 percent. The highest value was in Oman: 7.34 percent and the lowest value was in Zimbabwe: 0.01 percent. The indicator is available from 1960 to 2021.

Is Canada increasing military spending? ›

Key Facts. Budget 2022: A total $8 billion new funding over five years—on top of planned increases associated with Strong, Secure, Engaged, including: $6.1 billion for continental defence, commitments to our allies, investments in equipment. $100.5 million for modernizing the military justice system and culture change.

Best States For a Military

In fact, our research shows that Alaska is the best state for militaries in America. The best city in America for militaries with the highest pay is Santa Clara, CA.

China has the world's largest standing army and navy, with Beijing announcing on Sunday the biggest increase to its military budget since 2019.

In 2022, major entitlement programs—Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Obamacare, and other health care programs—consumed 46 percent of all federal spending. Soon, this spending will be larger than the portion of spending for all other priorities (such as national defense) combined.

Like most governments, California relies primarily on taxes to fund the public services that it provides to its individuals and businesses. California's state and local governments raise well over $200 billion annually in own-source revenues to provide public services, with roughly 60 percent of this from taxes.

Serving your country by enlisting in the United States military is extremely honorable, but it doesn't change your tax obligations. Whether you're stationed in the United States or are living abroad as a member of the United States military, you'll still have to pay taxes.

While all pays are taxable, most allowances are tax-exempt. The primary allowances for most individuals are BAS and BAH, which are tax-exempt. Conus COLA is one allowance that is taxable.

Russia's official 2022 military budget is expected to be 4.7 trillion rubles ($75bn), or higher, and about $84bn for 2023, 40% more than initial military budget announced in 2021. Between 2022–2025, Russia plans to spend in total $600bn on defence and security.

With an annual defense budget of over 800 billion U.S. dollars, the United States accounted for more than one third of the global expenditure in that year. To compare, Russia ranked fifth by military spending.

In 2021, the United States spent approximately 44 billion U.S. dollars on nuclear weapons, the highest of any country in the world. China spent the second-highest amount, at nearly 12 billion dollars, while Russia spent the third most at nearly nine billion dollars.

Who has the biggest military budgets in NATO? ›

In 2022, the United States spent an estimated 822 billion U.S. dollars on defense. This makes their defense budget, by far, the biggest out of all the NATO members. The United Kingdom was the country with the second highest defense expenditure with 68 billion U.S Dollars, with Germany following in third.

Budget for FY2021

For Fiscal Year 2021 (FY2021), the Department of Defense's discretionary budget authority was approximately $705.39 billion ($705,390,000,000).

The Chinese government announces defense expenditure information annually. In March 2023, China announced a yearly defense budget of RMB 1.55 trillion ($224.8 billion), ¹ marking a nominal 7.2 percent increase from the 2022 budget of RMB 1.45 trillion ($229.6 billion).

1. United States Of America. US Military has the biggest defence budget in the world. They are known for their most powerful Air Force on the planet, named as United States Air Force (USAF).

It would take a land- based missile about 30 minutes to fly between Russia and the United States; a submarine-based missile could strike in as little as 10 to 15 minutes after launch.

The United States has 800 launchers for strategic nuclear weapons and a stockpile of 3,700 warheads (see graph below). Even if China increases it nuclear weapons stockpile to 1,500 by 2035, it will only make up a fraction of the much larger US and Russian stockpiles.

The United States has the highest military spending of any nation. Its military spending includes all of the Department of Defense's regular activities, war spending, the nuclear weapon program, international military assistance, and other Pentagon-related spending.