Trends in World Military Expenditure Report 2024:
According to the 2024 edition of the “Trends in World Military Expenditure” report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), India’s military spending was nearly nine times higher than Pakistan’s last year.
Highlights of 2024 Report:
- The global defence expenditures reached $2.46 trillion in 2024, an increase from $2.24 trillion in the previous year, bringing the average defence spending to 9% of global GDP, up from 1.6% in 2022 and 1.8% in 2023.
- Military spending increased in all world regions, with particularly rapid growth in both Europe and the Middle East, courtesy of the ongoing Ukraine-Russia war and Israel-Hamas conflict.
- Military spending in Europe (including Russia) rose by 17 percent to $693 billion and was the main contributor to the global increase in 2024.
- Military spending by the USA rose by 5.7 percent to reach $997 billion, which was 66 percent of total NATO spending and 37 percent of world military spending in 2024.
- Military expenditure in the Middle East reached an estimated $243 billion in 2024, an increase of 15 percent from 2023, with Israel and Lebanon emerging as the biggest spenders in the region.
- 60 percent of the world’s military spending came from only five countries – the USA (37 percent), China (12 percent), Russia (5.5 percent), Germany (3.3 percent) and India (3.2percent).
- India, the fifth biggest military spender in the world in 2024, increased its spending to $86.1 billion, up by 1.6 percent from 2023 and by 42 percent from India’s military spending in 2024 was nearly nine times that of Pakistan’s
- China’s military spending rose by 7.0 percent to an estimated USD 314 billion, marking three decades of uninterrupted growth. China alone accounted for half of the defence spending across Asia and Oceania.
