Global military expenditure reaches new record high in 2022

An annual report has found that military expenditure across the world hit an all-time high of $2.24tn (£1.8tn) in 2022, a year when there was an increase in dangerous nuclear weapons rhetoric amidst the ongoing war in Ukraine.

A leading conflict and armaments think tank said on Monday (April 24) that Russia's war in Ukraine drove the biggest annual increase in expenditure in Europe since the end of the Cold War three decades ago.

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said that the rise in Europe helped global military expenditures reach an eighth straight record — or 2.2 per cent of the world's gross domestic product.

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As quoted by Paris-based news agency AFP, researcher Nan Tian, who is one of the study's co-authors, said: "It's driven by the war in Ukraine, (which is) driving European budget spending upwards, but also the unresolved and worsening tensions in East Asia between the US and China."

The boost in military expenditures can be seen in the aftermath of countries rushing to bolster their defences after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which began in February last year following years of growing tensions.

As quoted by Reuters, SIPRI Senior Researcher Diego Lopes da Silva said: "This included multi-year plans to boost spending from several governments. As a result, we can reasonably expect military expenditure in Central and Western Europe to keep rising in the years ahead."

Moscow claimed that it has launched a "special military operation" to liberate it from the neo-Nazi regime and it also said that the operation was necessary to safeguard it against what it sees as a hostile and aggressive West.

Ukraine condemned the military incursion and, in the aftermath, its allies started pumping in advanced and precision weapons in the form of military aid to the war-hit nation.Ukraine and its allies say Russia is waging an unprovoked war aimed at grabbing territory.

SIPRI data suggested that Ukraine's military spending rose 640 per cent in 2022, the largest annual increase recorded in the Stockholm-based research report, which dates back to 1949, with that total not including the vast amounts of financial military aid provided by the West.

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As per SIPRI's estimate, military aid to Ukraine from the United States accounted for 2.3 per cent of total US military spending in 2022.

The report also weighed in on Russia's military spending, which grew by an estimated 9.2 per cent. Notably, SIPRI said that the figures were "highly uncertain given the increasing opaqueness of financial authorities" since its war in Ukraine began.

As quoted by Reuters, Lucie Beraud-Sudreau, Director of SIPRI's Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme, said: "The difference between Russia's budgetary plans and its actual military spending in 2022 suggests the invasion of Ukraine has cost Russia far more than it anticipated."

(With inputs from agencies)

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