The world’s military expenditures in 2021 surpassed two trillion dollars for the first time ever, hitting $2.113 trillion, according to the Trends in World Military Expenditure 2021 report published by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) on April 25.
Global military spending in 2021 was 0.7 percent higher than in 2020 and 12 percent higher when compared to 2012. This is the seventh consecutive year of increase since 2015, with the COVID pandemic failing to put a stop to the “continuous upward trend,” the report (pdf) said.
“As a result of the strong economic recovery across the globe in 2021, world military spending as a share of world gross domestic product (GDP)—the global military burden—reached 2.2 percent, down from 2.3 percent in 2020. Average military spending as a share of government expenditure in 2021 remained the same as in 2020, at 5.9 percent.”
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