By John Ikani
World military expenditures hit a record $2.24 trillion in 2022, spurred by a surge in European military spending following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute’s (SIPRI) annual report.
This marks the eighth consecutive year of global military spending increase, with the steepest rise of 13% in Europe, attributed primarily to perceived threats from Russia.
Other countries also amplified their military budgets in response to these threats.
SIPRI researcher Nan Tian remarked on the increasing insecurity of the world: “States are bolstering military strength in response to a deteriorating security environment, which they do not foresee improving in the near future.”
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 followed its seizure of the Crimean peninsula in 2014 and support of separatist rebels in the country’s east.
These moves have alarmed other countries bordering Russia or were once under Soviet influence. Finland increased its spending by 36%, while Lithuania boosted its military spending by 27%.
This April, Finland became the 31st member of NATO, and Sweden seeks to join after avoiding military alliances for over 200 years.
Lorenzo Scarazzato, SIPRI researcher, observed that concerns about Russian aggression have been rising for a while, causing many former Eastern bloc states to double their military spending since Russia’s annexation of Crimea.
Ukraine’s military spending surged more than six times to $44 billion in 2022, a record increase in a country’s military expenditure ever recorded by SIPRI.
Military spending as a percentage of GDP skyrocketed to 34% in 2022 from 3.2% the previous year.
Russia’s military spending rose by an estimated 9.2% to approximately $86.4 billion in 2022, equivalent to 4.1% of Russia’s GDP, up from 3.7% in 2021.
The United States retained its position as the world’s biggest military spender, with a 0.7% increase to $877 billion in 2022, constituting 39% of total global military spending.
SIPRI’s Nan Tian explained that the increase was mainly driven by “the unprecedented level of financial military aid it provided to Ukraine.”
US financial military aid to Ukraine totaled $19.9 billion in 2022.
China remained the world’s second-largest military spender, allocating around $292 billion in 2022, 4.2% more than in 2021, representing the 28th consecutive year of increase.
Japan’s military spending reached $46 billion in 2022, up 5.9% from the previous year, the highest level since 1960. Japan and China topped military spending in the Asia and Oceania region, amounting to $575 billion.
SIPRI noted that military expenditure in the region had been rising since 1989. Tensions in East Asia have escalated over Taiwan, a self-governed island that China regards as part of its territory.
In addition, China claims almost all of the South China Sea, a crucial maritime trading route, while parts of it are also claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, and Malaysia.
Tokyo and Beijing are also embroiled in a dispute over the Senkaku or Diaoyu Islands, which are northeast of Taiwan.
Meanwhile, Japan has a long-standing conflict with Moscow over the Northern Territories, northeast of Hokkaido, which the Soviet Union annexed at the end of World War II, calling them the Kuril Islands.
