Military spending continues to race forward

Representatives of French arms and military equipment manufacturers at the Security, Defense and Military Industry Fair in Baghdad on March 2, 2022.

One figure will catch the eye, among the many data from the latest annual report on military spending published on Monday, April 25, by the International Peace Research Institute in Stockholm (Sipri): in 2021, military spending for the first time exceeded 2,000 billion dollars in the world to reach 2,113 billion dollars (about 1,947 billion euros), up 0.7% in real terms compared to 2020, half of which for NATO members . The top five spenders in descending order (US, China, India, UK and Russia) account for 62% of the total – with the US dominating overwhelmingly.

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Behind these figures, a trend: since the middle of the previous decade, the world has been rearming, from Asia-Oceania to Africa via Europe, while the Middle East and North America, already over-armed, mark time. This is the seventh consecutive year of increases, worldwide, and the Covid-19 pandemic has not stopped the escalation, notes one of the report’s authors, Diego Lopes da Silva, even if their share of 2 .2% in gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 0.1 point due to the mechanical effect of the strong economic growth recorded in 2021.

Next generation technologies

The United States spends the most ($801 billion). They have increased their research and development (R&D) effort by 24% in real terms since 2012, when the purchase of weapons fell by 6.4%, proof that new generation technologies have become the sinews of war and that ‘they want to maintain their supremacy over Russia and China. The modernization of the nuclear arsenal absorbs part of this effort, which places the American defense system high above its potential enemies.

“High oil and gas revenues have helped Russia increase its military spending in 2021.” Lucie Béraud-Sudreau, director of the “military spending and arms production” program at Sipri

For the time being, all eyes have been on Russia since the invasion of Ukraine on February 24. Its military spending, up 2.9% to $65.9 billion, and for the third consecutive year, weighs 4.1% of national wealth, more than double that of France (1.9%). “High oil and gas revenues have helped it increase military spending in 2021underlines Lucie Béraud-Sudreau, director of the program “Military expenditure and production of armaments” of Sipri. They had decreased between 2016 and 2019 due to low energy prices, combined with the sanctions imposed in response to the annexation of Crimea in 2014.

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