India joins US and China among world's three biggest military spenders

New Delhi: Global military expenditure grew at 3.6 percent in 2019, its largest annual spike in a decade, with China and India being the second and third-largest spenders after the US, a Stockholm-based think-tank said on Monday, 27 April. This is the first time the two Asian giants were among the top three countries spending more on armaments.

The total global military expenditure rose to $1,917 billion in 2019, representing an annual growth of 3.6 percent compared to 2018, according to a new report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

The 3.6 percent spike, it said, was the largest spending growth since 2010.

While the US drove the global growth, China and India – the top Asian military spenders – were respectively the second and third-largest military spenders in the world, the report said.

‘India’s Tensions and Rivalry With Pak and China Major Drivers’

China's military expenditure reached $261 billion in 2019, a 5.1 percent increase compared to 2018, while that of India grew by 6.8 percent to $71.1 billion, it said.

"India's tensions and rivalry with both Pakistan and China are among the major drivers for its increased military spending," said Siemon T Wezeman, SIPRI Senior Researcher.

The five largest spenders, which accounted for 62 percent of the total expenditure, were the US, China, India, Russia and Saudi Arabia, the report said, adding that this is the first time that two Asian states have featured among the top three military spenders.

In addition to China and India, Japan ($47.6 billion) and South Korea ($43.9 billion) were the largest military spenders in Asia and Oceania. Military expenditure in the region has risen every year since at least 1989.

The report said that the military spending by the US grew by 5.3 percent to a total of $732 billion in 2019 and accounted for 38 percent of global military spending.

The increase in US spending in 2019 alone was equivalent to the entirety of Germany’s military expenditure for that year.

“The recent growth in US military spending is largely based on a perceived return to competition between the great powers," said Pieter D Wezeman, Senior Researcher at SIPRI.

The global military spending in 2019 represented 2.2 percent of the global gross domestic product (GDP), which equates to approximately $249 per person.

"Global military expenditure was 7.2 percent higher in 2019 than it was in 2010, showing a trend that military spending growth has accelerated in recent years," said Dr Nan Tian, SIPRI Researcher.

"This is the highest level of spending since the 2008 global financial crisis and probably represents a peak in expenditure," the researcher said.

In Europe, Germany's military spending rose by 10 percent in 2019, to $49.3 billion, the largest increase in spending among the top 15 military spenders in 2019.

“The growth in German military spending can partly be explained by the perception of an increased threat from Russia, shared by many North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) member states. At the same time, however, military spending by France and the United Kingdom remained relatively stable.”

In 2019, Russia was the fourth-largest spender in the world and increased its military expenditure by 4.5 percent to $65.1 billion.

"At 3.9 percent of its GDP, Russia's military spending burden was among the highest in Europe in 2019," said Alexandra Kuimova, Researcher at SIPRI.

The average military spending burden was 1.4 percent of the GDP for countries in the Americas, 1.6 percent for Africa, 1.7 percent for Asia and Oceania and for Europe, and 4.5 percent for the Middle East (in countries for which data is available).

SIPRI said that data from previous global economic downturns suggests that the economic crisis resulting from the coronavirus pandemic will probably disrupt the future military spending.