SIPRI: European military spending for the year reached the highest level since the Cold War

Military spending worldwide will increase by 3,7 percent in 2022 to a record $2,24 trillion. At the same time, Central and Western Europe experienced the largest annual growth since the Cold War, and Ukraine increased its spending to an unprecedented level in the face of Russian aggression. This is stated in the data released by the Stockholm Institute for Peace Research (SIPRI) on April 24, writes radiosvoboda.org.

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According to SIPRI, the United States, Russia and China continue to be the biggest spenders in this area, accounting for 56 percent of global military spending.

According to the report, military aid to Ukraine and concerns about a growing threat from Russia have weighed heavily on spending in many other countries, as have tensions in East Asia.

"The steady increase in global military spending in recent years is a sign that we are living in an increasingly dangerous world," commented Nan Tian, ​​Senior Researcher at SIPRI's Military Spending and Arms Production Program.

According to him, states are strengthening their armies in response to the deterioration of the security environment, because they do not expect an improvement in the near future.

The Institute estimates that Russia's military spending will increase by 9,2 percent in 2022 to about $86,4 billion, equivalent to 4,1 percent of Russia's gross domestic product. In 2021, the indicator was 3,7 percent.

"The difference between Russia's budget plans and its actual military spending in 2022 suggests that the invasion of Ukraine has cost Russia much more than it expected," said SIPRI's Military Spending and Arms Program Director, Lucy Bereau-Seudro.

Ukraine's military spending will reach $44 billion in 2022 — a whopping 640% increase. The report's authors called it "the largest single-year increase in a country's military spending ever recorded in SIPRI data."

"As a result of the increase and damage to Ukraine's economy related to the war... military spending as a share of GDP increased to 34 percent of GDP in 2022, compared to 3,2 percent in 2021," the report said.

By contrast, the United States — the world's undisputed leader in military spending — spent $877 billion in 2022, an inflation-adjusted increase of 0,7 percent from last year. That equates to 39 percent of total global military spending and three times more than second-place China.

Spending by the countries of Central and Western Europe will reach $345 billion in 2022, surpassing in real terms the level of 1989, when the Cold War was ending.

"The invasion of Ukraine immediately affected military spending decisions in Central and Western Europe. This also applies to the multi-year spending plans of several governments," said Diego López da Silva, senior researcher at SIPRI.

He suggested that military spending in the region would continue to rise in the coming years.

Finland, which recently became NATO's 31st member, led this growth with a 36 percent increase in military spending. It is followed by Lithuania (27% growth), NATO-seeking Sweden (12% growth) and Poland (11% growth).

"While the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 certainly influenced military spending decisions in 2022, concerns about Russian aggression have been building for much longer," said Lorenzo Scarazzato, a researcher at the Institute.

He pointed out that many former Eastern Bloc states have more than doubled their military spending since the beginning of Russian aggression against Ukraine with the annexation of Crimea in 2014.

SIPRI said all percentage changes are expressed in real terms at constant 2021 prices.

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