05/04/2016 |

Welfare or warfare? Global military spending rises, according to SIPRI data

Geneva, 5 April 2016

Today sees the start of the Global Days of Action on Military Spending (April 5 – 18), when the International Peace Bureau and its partners around the world focus on the excessive military spending of the world’s governments.

This morning the latest global military spending statistics (for the year 2015) were released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

According to the figures, world military expenditure last year reached $1,676 billion (USD), an increase of 1 per cent in real terms from 2014. The increase reflects continuing growth in Asia and Oceania, Central and Eastern Europe, and some Middle Eastern states; and a decline in spending in Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean.

The United States remained by far the world’s biggest spender in 2015, despite its expenditure falling by 2.4 per cent to $596 billion. Among the other top spenders, China’s expenditure rose by 7.4 per cent to $215 billion, Saudi Arabia’s grew by 5.7 per cent to $87.2 billion – making it the world’s third largest spender – and Russia’s increased by 7.5 per cent to $66.4 billion.