A Turkish TB3 drone launches from TCG Anadolu during exercise “Steadfast Dart 26”. Credit: NATO, Informationen zu Creative Commons (CC) Lizenzen, für Pressemeldungen ist der Herausgeber verantwortlich, die Quelle ist der Herausgeber
Global military spending rise continues as European and Asian expenditures surge
Global military spending rise continues as European and Asian expenditures surge
#Stockholm, April 27th, 2026
World #military #expenditure reached 2887 billion dollars in 2025, an increase of 2.9 percent in real terms over 2024. Military spending declined in the United States but rose by 14 percent in #Europe and by 8.1 percent in #Asia and #Oceania. The top three military spenders—the #USA, #China and #Russia—spent a combined total of 1,480 billion dollars, or 51 percent of the global total, according to new data published today by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
#Rearmament and heightened insecurity fuel widespread spending increases
Global military expenditure increased to 2,887 billion dollars in 2025, the 11th year of consecutive rises, bringing the global military burden—military expenditure as a share of gross domestic product (#GDP)—to 2.5 percent, its highest level since 2009. At 2.9 percent, the annual spending increase was significantly smaller than the 9.7 percent increase recorded in 2024. However, this slowdown is largely accounted for by a drop in #US #military #spending. Outside the USA, total spending grew by 9.2 percent in 2025.
“Global military spending rose again in 2025 as states responded to another year of wars, uncertainty and geopolitical upheaval with large scale armament drives”, said Xiao Liang, Researcher with SIPRI’s Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme. “Given the range of current crises, as well as many states long term military spending targets, this growth will probably continue through 2026 and beyond.”
US spending shrinks as no new #military #aid for #Ukraine approved during year
At 954 billion dollars, military spending by the United States was 7.5 percent lower in 2025 than in 2024. The drop was primarily due to the fact that no new financial military assistance for Ukraine was approved during the year. This was in sharp contrast to the previous three years, when a total of 127 billion dollars was approved.
However, the USA increased investments in both nuclear and conventional military capabilities to maintain dominance in the Western Hemisphere and deter China in the Indo Pacific, which are key goals of the new National Security Strategy.
“The decline in US military expenditure in 2025 is likely to be short lived”, said Nan Tian, Programme Director of the SIPRI Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme. “Spending approved by the US Congress for 2026 has risen to over 1 trillion dollars, a substantial increase from 2025, and could rise further to 1.5 trillion dollars in 2027 if President Trump’s latest budget proposal is accepted.”
Sharp rise in European spending amid war and new #NATO spending target
The main contributor to the global increase in military spending in 2025 was a 14 percent rise in Europe to 864 billion dollars. Spending by Russia and Ukraine continued to grow in the fourth year of the war in Ukraine, while ongoing rearmament efforts by European NATO members led to the sharpest annual growth in spending in Central and Western Europe since the end of the cold war.
Russia’s military spending grew by 5.9 percent in 2025 to 190 billion dollars, giving it a military burden of 7.5 percent of GDP. Ukraine, the seventh largest spender in 2025, increased its spending by 20 percent to 84.1 billion dollars, or 40 percent of GDP.
“In 2025 military expenditure as a share of government spending reached the highest level ever recorded in both Russia and Ukraine”, said Lorenzo Scarazzato, Researcher with the SIPRI Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme. “Their spending is likely to keep growing in 2026 if the war continues, with revenues from Russia’s oil sales increasing and a major European Union loan expected by Ukraine.”
The 29 European NATO members spent a combined total of 559 billion dollars in 2025, and 22 of them had military spending of at least 2.0 percent of GDP, according to SIPRI’s methodology. Germany was the largest military spender in the group, with its expenditure growing by 24 percent year on year to 114 billion dollars. Germany’s military burden exceeded the 2.0 percent threshold for the first time since 1990, reaching 2.3 percent of GDP in 2025. Military spending by Spain increased by 50 percent to 40.2 billion dollars, also bringing its military burden above 2.0 percent of GDP for the first time since 1994.
“In 2025 military spending by European NATO members rose faster than at any time since 1953, reflecting the ongoing pursuit of European self reliance alongside increasing pressure from the United States to strengthen burden sharing within the alliance”, said Jade Guiberteau Ricard, Researcher with the SIPRI Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme. “As states strive to meet the new NATO spending targets agreed in 2025, there is a risk that the boundaries between military and other 'defence and security related’ expenditures become blurred, reducing transparency and further complicating the assessment of military capabilities.”
Spending in Middle East stable despite ongoing conflicts and regional rivalries
Military expenditure in the Middle East reached an estimated 218 billion dollars in 2025, just 0.1 percent higher than in 2024. Besides Israel, most of the other major spenders in the region for which data is available increased their spending.
The military expenditure of Israel decreased by 4.9 percent to 48.3 billion dollars, reflecting a reduction in the intensity of the war in #Gaza during 2025 after the #ceasefire agreement with Hamas in January 2025. Nevertheless, Israel’s spending remained 97 percenthigher than in 2022. Military spending by #Türkiye grew by 7.2 percent in 2025 to 30.0 billion dollars, partly driven by its ongoing military operations in #Iraq, #Somalia and #Syria.
Spending by Iran declined for the second consecutive year, falling by 5.6 percent to 7.4 billion dollars in 2025. The real terms decrease was due to high annual inflation of 42 percent, and spending increased in nominal terms.
“Despite the recent conflicts, Iran’s military spending decreased in real terms due to economic difficulties”, said Zubaida Karim, Researcher with the SIPRI Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme. “However, official figures almost certainly understate the true level of Iran’s spending—Iran also uses off budget oil revenues to finance its military, including the production of missiles and drones.”
#Asia and #Oceania sees fastest military spending growth since 2009
Military expenditure in Asia and Oceania totalled 681 billion dollars in 2025, 8.1 percent higher than in 2024—the largest annual rise since 2009. China, the world’s second largest military spender, increased its military spending by 7.4 percent to 336 billion dollars. This was the 31st consecutive year on year increase as China continued its military modernization drive. A renewed campaign against corruption in military procurement does not appear to have constrained spending.
Japan’s military expenditure rose by 9.7 percent to reach 62.2 billion dollars in 2025, equivalent to 1.4 percent of GDP—the highest share since 1958. Taiwan’s military spending rose by 14 percent to 18.2 billion dollars (2.1 percent of GDP), the largest annual increase since at least 1988, against a backdrop of intensifying military exercises around the island by the People’s #Liberation #Army.
“US allies in Asia and Oceania such as Australia, Japan and the Philippines are spending more on their militaries, not only due to long standing regional tensions but also due to growing uncertainty over US support”, said Diego Lopes da Silva, Senior Researcher with the SIPRI Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme. “As in Europe, US allies in Asia and Oceania are also under pressure from the Trump administration to spend more on their militaries.”
Other notable developments
Between 2024 and 2025, military spending by the United Kingdom decreased by 2.0 percent to 89.0 billion dollars. France’s military expenditure rose by 1.5 percent to 68.0 billion dollars in the same period.
India, the fifth biggest military spender in the world in 2025, increased its military spending by 8.9 percent to 92.1 billion dollars. Pakistan’s military spending increased by 11 percent to 11.9 billion dollars.
Saudi Arabia’s military spending increased by 1.4 percent to reach 83.2 billion dollars, making it the eighth biggest military spender in the world.
Total military spending in Africa increased by 8.5 percent in 2025 to reach 58.2 billion dollars. Nigeria’s military expenditure grew by 55 percent to 2.1 billion dollars in 2025, as insurgencies and extremist violence contributed to worsening insecurity.
Guyana’s military expenditure increased by 16 percent to 248 million dollars in 2025, fuelled by escalating tensions with Venezuela over the Essequibo region. Venezuela’s military spending remains unknown due to a lack of publicly available data.
SIPRI monitors developments in military expenditure worldwide and maintains the most comprehensive, consistent and extensive publicly available data source on military expenditure. The annual update of the SIPRI Military Expenditure Database is accessible from today online. The first year for which a global military spending figure is available is 1988.
All percentage changes are expressed in real terms (constant 2024 prices). Military expenditure refers to all government spending on current military forces and activities, including salaries and benefits, operational expenses, arms and equipment purchases, military construction, research and development, and central administration, command and support. #SIPRI therefore discourages the use of terms such as ‘arms spending’ when referring to military expenditure, as spending on armaments is usually only a minority of the total.
SIPRI’s methodology for calculating military expenditure differs from that used by NATO. As a result, SIPRI’s data regarding military spending and military burdens in NATO members may not exactly match that published by NATO or other sources, which include certain categories of spending not always included by SIPRI.
