Representatives of French arms and military equipment manufacturers at the Security, Defense and Military Industry Fair in Baghdad March 2, 2022. AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP
Among the plethora of data in the latest annual report on military spending, released Monday, April 25 by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri), one figure catches the eye: in 2021, military spending surpassed $2,000 billion in the world for the first time, at 2,113 billion dollars (about 1,947 billion euros), 0.7% more in real terms than in 2020, half of which for NATO members. The top five spenders in descending order (US, China, India, UK and Russia) account for 62% of the total – with the US overwhelmingly dominating.
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Behind these numbers lies a trend: Since the middle of the last decade, the world has been arming, from Asia-Oceania via Europe to Africa, while the Middle East and North America, already overarmed, are setting the pace. This is the seventh consecutive year of increases globally, and the Covid-19 pandemic has not stopped the escalation, notes one of the report’s authors, Diego Lopes da Silva, even though its 2.2% share of gross domestic product ( GDP ) fell by 0.1 points due to the mechanical effect of strong economic growth in 2021.
next-generation technologies
The United States spends the most ($801 billion). They have increased their research and development (R&D) efforts by 24% in real terms since 2012, when weapons purchases fell by 6.4%, proving that new generation technologies have become the sinews of war and that “they want to maintain their supremacy over Russia and China. The modernization of the nuclear arsenal absorbs part of this effort, which puts the American defense system far ahead of its potential enemies.
“High oil and gas revenues helped Russia increase its military spending in 2021.” Lucie Béraud-Sudreau, director of the “Military Spending and Arms Production” program at Sipri
Since the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, all eyes have been on Russia for the time being. Its military spending rose 2.9% to $65.9 billion, accounting for 4.1% of national wealth for the third straight year, more than double France’s (1.9%). “High oil and gas revenues have helped boost military spending in 2021,” said Lucie Béraud-Sudreau, director of Sipri’s Military Expenditure and Arms Production program. They fell between 2016 and 2019 due to low energy prices combined with sanctions imposed in response to the 2014 annexation of Crimea.
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