Global military spending rises for tenth consecutive year

Stockholm. Global military spending increased for the tenth consecutive year in 2024. All countries combined spent approximately $2.72 trillion (approximately €2.38 trillion) on their military, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) in its new report. Adjusted for inflation, this was 9.4 percent more than in 2023 – the largest year-on-year increase since the end of the Cold War in 1991.

According to the institute, the increase was particularly strong in Europe and the Middle East, which could be explained by the wars in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip as well as the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

According to SIPRI, Germany spent $88.5 billion (approximately €77.6 billion) on its military, ranking ahead of all other Central and Western European countries for the first time since reunification. Globally, Germany ranked fourth, behind the top-ranked USA, with China and Russia in second and third place, respectively.

With a 28 percent increase in German military spending compared to the previous year, the special fund for the Bundeswehr approved in 2022 showed its effect. Nevertheless, at 1.9 percent, the Federal Republic remained just short of the NATO target of investing 2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in defense.

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Greenpeace criticized Germany's rising military spending. Peace expert Thomas Breuer said: "Instead of urgently investing in education, climate protection, or social security, countries like Germany are continuing to indebt themselves to expand their defense budgets by enormous sums." This is leading to "a new arms spiral that creates mistrust between states and thus leads to growing insecurity."

The SIPRI report shows that all European countries—with the exception of Malta—increased their military spending in 2024. Russia was by far the European country that spent the most on its military, spending $149 billion (almost €131 billion). This corresponded to 7.1 percent of Russian GDP.

Ukraine, which was attacked by Russia, spent $64.7 billion (approximately €56.7 billion) on this. At 34 percent, Ukraine was the country worldwide that spent the largest share of its GDP on its military apparatus.

The United States, the undisputed leader in military spending for years, accounted for 37 percent of global military spending at $997 billion (€874 billion). According to the report, a significant portion of the US budget was earmarked for the modernization of military capabilities and the US nuclear arsenal.

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China increased its spending by seven percent, marking three decades of uninterrupted growth in its military spending. According to the report, China spent an estimated $314 billion (approximately €275 billion) on, among other things, expanding its cyberwarfare capabilities and its nuclear arsenal.

While eleven NATO members met the military alliance's target of spending at least 2 percent of their GDP on defense in 2023, according to the SIPRI methodology, 18 of the 32 NATO members met this target in 2024. According to SIPRI researcher Jade Guiberteau Ricard, the rapid increase in spending among European NATO members can be explained by the ongoing threat from Russia and the possible withdrawal of the United States from the alliance.

She emphasized, however, that an increase in spending alone does not necessarily lead to significantly greater military capability or independence from the US. "These are far more complex tasks," said the SIPRI expert.

According to SIPRI, military spending increased overall in the Middle East, but only Israel and Lebanon recorded a significant increase. Israel's spending rose by 65 percent, the largest increase since the Six-Day War in 1967, to $46.5 billion (almost €41 billion) – a rise related to the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip and Israel's escalating conflict with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

Israel's arch-enemy Iran was one of the countries whose military spending declined in 2024, according to the report – despite Iran's support for several groups in the region, such as Hamas and Hezbollah. According to Sipri, the sanctions imposed on the country led to a 10 percent decline in military spending to $7.9 billion (just under €7 billion).

The annual SIPRI report on global military spending is considered the most comprehensive collection of data of its kind. The peace researchers base their report on official government data on defense budgets and other sources and statistics—therefore, the figures traditionally differ from those provided by NATO and individual countries. SIPRI also includes expenditures on personnel, military aid, and military research and development.

RND/dpa