The SIPRI Military Expenditure Database is now accessible http://www.sipri.org.
A few highlights from this year’s report:
- World military expenditure rose by 1 per cent in 2015. The first increase in military spending since 2011.* The increase reflects continuing growth in Asia and Oceania, Central and Eastern Europe, and some Middle Eastern states. The decline in spending in the West is also levelling off. At the same time, spending decreased in Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean. Thus, the global military expenditure picture is mixed.
- The United States remained by far the world’s biggest spender in 2015, despite its expenditure falling by 2.4 per cent to $596 billion. Among the other top spenders, China’s expenditure rose by 7.4 per cent to $215 billion, Saudi Arabia’s grew by 5.7 per cent to $87.2 billion—making it the world’s third-largest spender—and Russia’s increased by 7.5 per cent to $66.4 billion.
- Military spending in North America and Western and Central Europe has been decreasing since 2009…… …….US military spending was down by 2.4 per cent in 2015, a much slower rate of decline than in recent years. This was the result of measures passed by the US Congress to partially protect military spending from previously agreed budget deficit-reduction measures. US military spending is projected to remain roughly level in real terms in 2016.
More details and links to the annual report can be found at:
http://www.sipri.org/media/pressreleases/2016/milex-apr-2016
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