According to an annual estimate, global military spending reached an all-time high of $2.24 trillion (£1.8 trillion) in 2022, a year when deadly nuclear weapons rhetoric increased with the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. According to a major conflict and weapons think tank, Russia’s war in Ukraine has resulted in the largest annual increase in European expenditure since the Cold War ended three decades ago.
The increase in military spending is a result of countries hurrying to shore up their defenses in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the increase in Europe enabled global military expenditures hit an eighth consecutive record — or 2.2 percent of global GDP. 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 increase in spending can be regarded as a result of countries hurrying to shore up their defenses in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which began in February last year after years of rising 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 to have initiated a “special military operation” to rescue it from the neo-Nazi rule, as well as to protect it from what it perceived to be a hostile and aggressive West. Meanwhile, Ukraine criticized the military incursion, and the West began sending advanced and precision weapons to the war-torn country as military aid. Ukraine and its Western allies accuse Russia of waging an unjustified war to seize territory.
The report also weighed in on Russia’s defense spending, which grew by an estimated 9.2 percent
According to SIPRI data, Ukraine’s defense spending increased by 640 percent in 2022, the highest yearly growth recorded in the Stockholm-based research study since 1949, with that total excluding massive amounts of financial military help offered by the West. As per SIPRI’s estimate, military aid to Ukraine from the United States accounted for 2.3 percent of total US military spending in 2022.
The report also weighed in on Russia’s military spending, which grew by an estimated 9.2 percent. 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 Program, 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.”