Global Military Spending Hits Post-Cold War High in 2024
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April 29, 2025 Hour: 8:38 am
Military expenditure in Europe jumped by 17 percent to US$693 billion, making it a major contributor to the global surge.
On Monday, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) released a report showing that global military expenditure soared to its highest level in 2024 since the end of the Cold War.
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The report reveals that global military spending reached US$2.72 trillion in 2024, marking a 9.4 percent increase compared to the previous year. This represented the sharpest annual rise since at least the end of the Cold War, with particularly rapid growth observed in Europe and the Middle East.
Military expenditure in Europe jumped by 17 percent to US$693 billion, making it a major contributor to the global surge. Meanwhile, military expenditure in the Middle East climbed by 15 percent to an estimated US$243 billion in 2024, with Israel’s military spending surging by 65 percent to US$46.5 billion, marking its largest increase since 1967.
The United States remained the country with the highest military spending in the world, with expenditure reaching US$997 billion, accounting for 37 percent of total global military spending in 2024.
The total defense spending by the members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) amounted to US$1.5 trillion, representing 55 percent of global military expenditure.
Jade Guiberteau Ricard, researcher with the SIPRI Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme, said the spending increases among European NATO members were driven by the Russia-Ukraine conflict as well as by concerns about “possible US disengagement within the alliance.”
However, the researcher added, “It is worth saying that boosting spending alone will not necessarily translate into significantly greater military capability or independence from the USA.”
SIPRI, founded in 1966, provides data, analysis and recommendations for military expenditure, the arms trade, disarmament and arms control.
teleSUR/ JF
Source: Xinhua
