Global Military Budget Soars in 2024

(MENAFN) Global military expenditure skyrocketed to $2.718 trillion in 2024, marking the largest increase in history, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) on Monday. The 9.4% real-terms surge from 2023 is the steepest year-on-year rise since the Cold War's end and the 10th consecutive year of growth.

This increase also lifted the global military burden—military spending as a percentage of global GDP—to 2.5% in 2024.

Europe, including Russia, played a significant role in this rise, with military spending jumping 17% to $693 billion. This was primarily driven by the ongoing war in Ukraine, pushing European military expenditure to levels not seen since the Cold War.

Russia’s military spending saw a dramatic 38% increase, reaching $149 billion, which is double its 2015 spending and amounts to 7.1% of its GDP. Ukraine’s spending surged to $64.7 billion, about 43% of Russia's military budget, with a staggering 34% of its GDP devoted to defense—marking the world’s highest military burden.

SIPRI senior researcher Diego Lopes da Silva cautioned that Ukraine faces challenges in further increasing defense spending due to its constrained fiscal capacity, relying on support from Western allies in its conflict with Russia.

Several European nations also experienced significant rises in military budgets. Germany, for instance, boosted its defense spending by 28%, reaching $88.5 billion. This increase made Germany the fourth-largest global spender and the largest in central and western Europe, aided by a special defense fund launched in 2022.

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