{"id":40849,"date":"2021-04-26T15:43:58","date_gmt":"2021-04-26T15:43:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2021\/04\/26\/the-world-spent-almost-2-trillion-on-defense-in-2020\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:10:55","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:10:55","slug":"the-world-spent-almost-2-trillion-on-defense-in-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/global\/2021\/04\/26\/the-world-spent-almost-2-trillion-on-defense-in-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"The world spent almost $2 trillion on defense in 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 Global spending on militaries rose to $1.981 trillion last year, an increase of 2.6 percent over the previous year\u2019s figure<\/a>, according to new research<\/a> by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That total is the highest since the think tank SIPRI began tracking military spending in 1988. The top five largest military spenders contributed to 62 percent of that total.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The U.S. ($778 billion, 39 percent of overall spending) easily outpaced<\/a> its closest competitors, with China ($252 billion, 13 percent), India ($72.9 billion, 3.7 percent), Russia ($61.7 billion, 3.1 percent) and the United Kingdom ($59.2 billion, 3 percent) rounding out the top group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overall, the U.S. and China represent 52 percent of all military spending for the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rounding out the top 10 are Saudi Arabia ($57.5 billion), Germany ($52.8 billion), France, ($52.7 billion), Japan ($49.1 billion) and South Korea ($45.7 billion). No other country accounted for 2 percent or more of overall military expenditure in 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While 2020 was an unprecedented year globally, military expenditures stayed steady overall, said Diego Lopes da Silva, a researcher with the SIPRI Arms and Military Expenditure Programme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe can say with some certainty that the pandemic did not have a significant impact on global military spending in 2020,\u2019 Lopes da Silva said in a news release. \u201cIt remains to be seen whether countries will maintain this level of military spending through a second year of the pandemic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

COVID-19 did have one impact on the data set: As global economies struggled in 2020, defense spending as a percentage of national gross domestic product reached a global average of 2.4 percent in 2020, up from 2.2 percent in 2019 \u2014 the biggest year-on-year rise since 2009, according to SIPRI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While that change was due more to GDPs coming down than to nations actively increasing their defense spending, it did allow three NATO nations to break the 2 percent GDP spending target that had previously not done so, by SIPRI\u2019s estimation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Researchers relay on estimations for China\u2019s defense spending, but its annual 2020 figures appear to represent a 1.9 percent increase from 2019 \u2014 the 26th year in a row that China\u2019s military spending has increased, and the longest such streak SIPRI has tracked. Overall, in the last decade, China has increased its military spending by 76 percent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cChina stands out as the only major spender in the world not to increase its military burden in 2020 despite increasing its military expenditure, because of its positive GDP growth last year,\u201d Nan Tian, SIPRI senior researcher, said in a statement. \u201cThe ongoing growth in Chinese spending is due in part to the country\u2019s long-term military modernization and expansion plans, in line with a stated desire to catch up with other leading military powers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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With a military budget of an estimated $778 billion, the USA\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 remained the world\u2019s largest spender in 2020, accounting for 39% of global military spending. US military expenditure in 2020 was 4.4% higher than in 2019.

Full analysis \u27a1\ufe0f https:\/\/t.co\/vfzjJAc3rR<\/a>#MILEX<\/a> #GDAMS<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/DZg51pxggU<\/a><\/p>— SIPRI (@SIPRIorg) April 26, 2021<\/a><\/blockquote>