Military expenditure globally hit an all-time high of $2.24 trillion in 2022, rising 3.7 percent from the previous year, due largely to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, an international security think tank said Monday.
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said total spending grew for the eighth straight year but at a faster pace compared to the increase of 0.7 percent in 2021. It marked the largest rise since 1988 when comparable data became available.
The top five spending countries were the United States, China, Russia, India and Saudi Arabia, accounting for 63 percent of the global total.
Ukraine's military spending shot up 7.4-fold from the year before and reached $44 billion, comprising 34 percent of its gross domestic product in 2022, becoming the 11th-largest military expenditure from 36th place the previous year, the report said. It also joined the top 15 for the first time.
Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February 2022, saw its military expenditure rise by an estimated 9.2 percent to $86.4 billion and rose to third place from fifth in the rankings, as it increased its outlays on its national guard and for large-scale mobilization to fight the war in Ukraine.
Military expenditure in Europe also rose by 13 percent to $480 billion.
"The invasion of Ukraine had an immediate impact on military spending decisions in Central and Western Europe," said Diego Lopes da Silva, senior researcher with SIPRI's Military Expenditure and Arms Production Program in the report.
By far the largest in the world, U.S. military spending reached $877 billion in 2022, rising 0.7 percent from the year before, largely due to "unprecedented" level of financial military aid to Ukraine, which totaled $19.9 billion in the year, the report said.
The United States spent three times more on military than China, the world's second-biggest spender, which saw its outlay rise for the 28th straight year to an estimated $292 billion, it said.
Japan's defense spending rose 5.9 percent to $46.0 billion, placing it 10th in the world rankings. South Korea, which spent $46.4 billion, rose to ninth.
"Japan is undergoing a profound shift in its military policy," said Xiao Liang, researcher with SIPRI's Military Expenditure and Arms Production Program. "The post-war restraints Japan imposed on its military spending and military capabilities seem to be loosening."
Late last year, Japan decided to acquire so-called counterstrike capabilities and double its defense spending in a dramatic shift in its postwar security policy under the nation's war-renouncing Constitution amid increasing threats posed by North Korea and China.
