Khaberni - Global military spending saw a noticeable jump in Europe and Asia, pushing it to levels not recorded for the past 16 years, according to a recent report.
Global military spending rose by about 3% in 2025, driven mainly by significant increases in defense budgets in Europe and Asia, according to a report released Monday by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), one of the world's leading arms control monitoring centers.
The annual report titled “Trends in Global Military Spending” notes that defense spending in Europe jumped 14% compared to 2024 to reach 864 billion dollars, while the Asia and Oceania region recorded an increase of 8.1% reaching 681 billion dollars.
In total, global military spending amounted to about 2.9 trillion dollars in 2025, an increase of 2.9% on an annual basis, which is equivalent to 2.5% of global GDP, the highest percentage since 2009.
The United States, China, Russia, Germany, and India topped the list of the largest spending countries, collectively accounting for 58% of the total global expenditure.
While the overall increase in 2025 is less than the 9.7% jump recorded in 2024, the report attributes this to the United States not approving new funding for arming Ukraine during 2025, noting that SIPRI counts external military aid as part of the donor state's expenditure.
Excluding the United States from the statistics, the global military spending growth rate rises to 9.2% during 2025, according to the report.
Nevertheless, the United States remains at the forefront of the highest military spending nations with a value of 954 billion dollars, followed by China with about 336 billion dollars, then Russia with about 190 billion dollars.
However, the largest increase in spending came from Washington's allies around the world, indicating long-term strategic shifts.
In this context, SIPRI researcher Jade Gilberto Ricar explained that military spending by European NATO member states rose in 2025 at the fastest pace since 1953, as Europe seeks to enhance its defense independence in parallel with American pressure to increase burden-sharing within the alliance.
Prominent countries that registered significant increases include: Belgium (59%), Spain (50%), Norway (49%), Denmark (46%), Germany (24%), Poland (23%) and Canada (23%). Germany's military expenditure reached 114 billion dollars, placing it fourth globally.
In Asia, Japan increased its military spending by 9.7% to 62.2 billion dollars, the highest level as a percentage of GDP (1.4%) since 1958.
SIPRI researcher Diego Lopez da Silva noted that U.S. allies in Asia and Oceania, such as Australia, Japan, and the Philippines, are increasing their military spending not only due to regional tensions but also due to growing doubts about continued U.S. support.
Taiwan raised its military spending by 14.2% to 18.2 billion dollars (2.1% of GDP), the biggest increase since 1988, amid tensions with China.
China's defense spending increased by 7.4%, the largest jump in a decade, and the 31st consecutive year of increase, as part of Beijing's efforts to modernize its forces by 2035.
Ukraine topped the world in terms of the ratio of military spending to GDP at about 40%, amid the ongoing war with Russia for the fourth year, ranking seventh globally.
Russia's share of military spending accounted for 7.5% of its GDP, with an increase of 5.9% compared to 2024.
Researcher Lorenzo Scarazatto noted that the proportion of military spending from total government expenditure reached record levels in both Russia and Ukraine, likely continuing this trend in 2026 if the war persists.
In the Middle East, Saudi Arabia topped military spending with 83.2 billion dollars, an increase of 1.4%, followed by Israel which spent 48.3 billion dollars, with a decrease of 4.9%.
Iran recorded an official decrease of 5.6%, although the report suggests that actual spending might be higher due to high inflation (42%) and Tehran's reliance on unlisted oil revenues to fund its military programs, including missiles and drones.
In South Asia, India's military spending rose by 8.9% to 92.1 billion dollars, driven by tension with Pakistan, with New Delhi's spending surpassing Islamabad by a difference of 80 billion dollars.
In Africa, military spending rose by 8.5% to 58.2 billion dollars, which places the continent 11th globally if considered as a single entity. Algeria topped spending in the continent, and came second globally after Ukraine in terms of the ratio of spending to GDP (25%).
The report expects this upward trend to continue in the coming years, as researcher Xiao Liang noted that multiple global crises and the long-term military spending goals of many countries will likely lead to continued growth during 2026 and beyond.
It is expected that the United States will play a pivotal role in this increase, as Congress has already approved more than a trillion dollars for defense spending in 2026, at a time when the war with Iran costs about a billion dollars daily.
Moreover, the Donald Trump administration proposed a defense budget of 1.5 trillion dollars for the year 2027.
