Global military expenditure has increased 6.8 percent in real terms from 2022, led by the United States, China and Russia. It’s the steepest year-on-year increase since 2009 according to new data by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
World military expenditure rose for the ninth consecutive year to an all-time high of $2,443 billion. For the first time since 2009, military expenditure went up in all five of the geographical regions defined by SIPRI, with particularly large increases recorded in Europe, Asia and Oceania and the Middle East.
“The unprecedented rise in military spending is a direct response to the global deterioration in peace and security,” said Nan Tian, Senior Researcher with SIPRI’s Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme. “States are prioritising military strength but they risk an action–reaction spiral in the increasingly volatile geopolitical and security landscape.”
Military aid to Ukraine narrows spending gap with Russia
Russia’s military spending increased by 24 percent to an estimated $109 billion in 2023, marking a 57 percent rise since 2014, the year that Russia annexed Crimea. In 2023 Russia’s military spending made up 16 percent of total government spending and its military burden (military spending as a share of gross domestic product, GDP) was 5.9 percent.
Ukraine was the eighth largest spender in 2023, after a spending surge of 51 percent to reach $64.8 billion. This gave Ukraine a military burden of 37 percent and represented 58 percent of total government spending.
Ukraine’s military spending in 2023 was 59 percent the size of Russia’s. However, Ukraine also received at least $35 billion in military aid during the year, including $25.4 billion from the USA. Combined, this aid and Ukraine’s own military spending were equivalent to about 91 percent of Russian spending.
US remains NATO’s big spender but European members increase share
In 2023 the 31 NATO members accounted for $1,341 billion, equal to 55 percent of the world’s military expenditure. Military spending by the USA rose by 2.3 percent to reach $916 billion in 2023, representing 68 percent of total NATO military spending.
In 2023 most European NATO members increased their military expenditure. Their combined share of the NATO total was 28 percent, the highest in a decade. The remaining 4 percent came from Canada and Türkiye.
“For European NATO states, the past two years of war in Ukraine have fundamentally changed the security outlook,” said Lorenzo Scarazzato, Researcher with SIPRI’s Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme. “This shift in threat perceptions is reflected in growing shares of GDP being directed towards military spending, with the NATO target of 2 percent increasingly being seen as a baseline rather than a threshold to reach.”
Poland’s military spending, the 14th highest in the world, was $31.6 billion after growing by 75 percent between 2022 and 2023—by far the largest annual increase by any European country.
A decade after NATO members formally committed to a target of spending 2 percent of GDP on the military, 11 out of 31 NATO members met or surpassed this level in 2023—the highest number since the commitment was made. Another target—of directing at least 20 percent of military spending to ‘equipment spending’—was met by 28 NATO members in 2023, up from 7 in 2014.
China’s rising military expenditure drives up spending by neighbours
China, the world’s second largest military spender, allocated an estimated $296 billion to the military in 2023, an increase of 6.0 percent from 2022. This was the 29th consecutive year-on-year rise in China’s military expenditure. China accounted for half of total military spending across the Asia and Oceania region. Several of China’s neighbours have linked their own spending increases to China’s rising military expenditure.
Japan allocated $50.2 billion to its military in 2023, which was 11 percent more than in 2022. Taiwan’s military expenditure also grew by 11 percent in 2023, reaching $16.6 billion.
India was the fourth largest military spender globally in 2023. At $83.6 billion, its military expenditure was 4.2 percent higher than in 2022.
“China is directing much of its growing military budget to boost the combat readiness of the People’s Liberation Army,” said Xiao Liang, Researcher with SIPRI’s Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme. “This has prompted the governments of Japan, Taiwan and others to significantly build up their military capabilities, a trend that will accelerate further in the coming years.”
War and tensions in the Middle East fuel massive spending increase
Estimated military expenditure in the Middle East increased by 9.0 percent to $200 billion in 2023. This was the highest annual growth rate in the region seen in the past decade.
Israel’s military spending—the second largest in the region after Saudi Arabia—grew by 24 percent to reach $27.5 billion in 2023. The spending increase was mainly driven by Israel’s large-scale offensive in Gaza in response to the attack on southern Israel by Hamas in October 2023.
Iran was the fourth largest military spender in the Middle East in 2023 with $10.3 billion. According to available data, the share of military spending allocated to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps grew from 27 percent to 37 percent between 2019 and 2023.
“The large increase in military spending in the Middle East in 2023 reflected the rapidly shifting situation in the region—from the warming of diplomatic relations between Israel and several Arab countries in recent years to the outbreak of a major war in Gaza and fears of a region-wide conflict,” said Diego Lopes da Silva, Senior Researcher with SIPRI’s Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme.
Action against organised crime pushes up spending in Central America
Military spending in Central America and the Caribbean in 2023 was 54 percent higher than in 2014. Escalating crime levels have led to the increased use of military forces against criminal gangs in several countries in the subregion.
Military spending by the Dominican Republic rose by 14 percent in 2023 in response to worsening gang violence in neighbouring Haiti. The Dominican Republic’s military spending has risen steeply since 2021, when the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse threw Haiti into crisis.
In Mexico, military expenditure reached $11.8 billion in 2023, a 55 percent increase from 2014 (but a 1.5 percent decrease from 2022). Allocations to the Guardia Nacional (National Guard)—a militarised force used to curb criminal activity—rose from 0.7 percent of Mexico’s total military expenditure in 2019, when the force was created, to 11 percent in 2023.
“The use of the military to suppress gang violence has been a growing trend in the region for years as governments are either unable to address the problem using conventional means or prefer immediate—often more violent—responses,” said Diego Lopes da Silva, Senior Researcher with SIPRI’s Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme.
Other notable developments
The largest percentage increase in military spending by any country in 2023 was seen in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (+105 percent), where there has been protracted conflict between the government and non-state armed groups. South Sudan recorded the second largest percentage increase (+78 percent) amid internal violence and spillover from the Sudanese civil war.
In 2023 Brazil’s military spending increased by 3.1 percent to $22.9 billion. Citing the NATO spending guideline, members of Brazil’s Congress submitted a constitutional amendment to the Senate in 2023 that aims to increase Brazil’s military burden to an annual minimum of 2 percent of GDP (up from 1.1 percent in 2023).
Algeria’s military spending grew by 76 percent to reach $18.3 billion. This was the highest level of expenditure ever recorded by Algeria and was largely due to a sharp rise in revenue from gas exports to countries in Europe as they moved away from Russian supplies.
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SIPRI monitors developments in military expenditure worldwide and maintains the most comprehensive, consistent and extensive publicly available data source on military expenditure. The annual update of the SIPRI Military Expenditure Database is accessible from today at www.sipri.org.
All percentage changes are expressed in real terms (constant 2022 prices). Military expenditure refers to all government spending on current military forces and activities, including salaries and benefits, operational expenses, arms and equipment purchases, military construction, research and development, and central administration, command and support.
