India is third in world in military expenditure; US, China take top slots

Total global military expenditure increased by 0.7 per cent in in 2021 to reach $2,113 billion, said the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), adding that the US, China and India are the top three spenders.

According to data published on Monday by SIPRI, which monitors developments in military expenditure worldwide, “the five largest spenders in 2021 were the United States, China, India, the United Kingdom and Russia, together accounting for 62 per cent of expenditure.”

World military spending continued to grow in 2021, reaching an all-time high of $2.1 trillion. This was the seventh consecutive year that spending increased.

India’s spending at $76.6 billion

India’s military spending of $76.6 billion ranked third highest in the world. This was up by 0.9 per cent from 2020 and by 33 per cent from 2012.

“In a push to strengthen the indigenous arms industry, 64 per cent of capital outlays in the military budget of 2021 were earmarked for acquisitions of domestically produced arms,” SIPRI said.

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“Even amid the economic fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic, world military spending hit record levels,’ said Dr Diego Lopes da Silva, Senior Researcher with SIPRI. “There was a slowdown in the rate of real-terms growth due to inflation. In nominal terms, however, military spending grew by 6.1 per cent.”

US focuses on R&D

The US military spending dropped by 1.4 per cent in 2021 as compared to 2020, but at $801 billion it remained the top spender in the world. The country’s funding for military research and development (R&D) rose by 24 per cent between 2012 and 2021, while arms procurement fell by 6.4 per cent over the same period.

“The increase in R&D spending over the decade 2012–21 suggests that the US is focusing more on next-generation technologies,” said Alexandra Marksteiner, SIPRI Researcher.

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China, the world’s second-largest spender, allocated an estimated $293 billion to its military in 2021, an increase of 4.7 per cent compared with 2020. Its military spending has grown for 27 consecutive years, SIPRI said, adding the 2021 Chinese budget was the first under the country’s 14th five-year plan, which runs until 2025.

Russia builds on back of oil revenue

Russia increased its military expenditure by 2.9 per cent in 2021, to $65.9 billion, at a time when it was building up its forces along the Ukrainian border. This was the third consecutive year of growth and Russia’s military spending reached 4.1 per cent of GDP in 2021.

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“High oil and gas revenues helped Russia to boost its military spending in 2021. Russian military expenditure had been in decline between 2016 and 2019 as a result of low energy prices combined with sanctions in response to Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014,” said Lucie Béraud-Sudreau, Director of SIPRI’s Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme.

As it strengthened its defences against Russia, Ukraine’s military spending has risen by 72 per cent since the annexation of Crimea in 2014. Spending fell in 2021, to $5.9 billion, but still accounted for 3.2 per cent of the country’s GDP, SIPRI said.