Watchdog: Global military spending up by 1.1 percent

Global military spending rose to USD1.739 trillion last year, a 1.1 percent increase on 2016, a Swedish arms watchdog said yesterday.

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, or SIPRI, said China continued its upward trend that has lasted for more than two decades, Russian expenditure fell for the first time since 1998, and the United States’ military spending remained constant for the second consecutive year.

Presenting the report, SIPRI chairman Jan Eliasson said that “continuing high world military expenditure is a cause for serious concern,” adding that “it undermines the search for peaceful solutions to conflicts around the world.”

SIPRI said the five biggest spenders in 2017 were the United States, China, Saudi Arabia, Russia and India, which together accounted for 60 per cent of the total.

Military spending accounted for 2.2 percent of global gross domestic product in 2017.

Nan Tian, a SIPRI researcher said that, globally speaking, “the weight of military spending is clearly shifting away from the Euro-Atlantic region.”

Tian added that the hike in military expenditure is largely due to substantial growth in spending by countries in Asia, Oceania and the Middle East, singling out China, India and Saudi Arabia.

The institute said military expenditure in Asia and Oceania rose for the 29th successive year.

China increased its military spending by 5.6 percent to $228 billion in 2017. Its share of global military expenditure has risen from 5.8 percent in 2008 to 13 percent in 2017.

Russia, at $66.3 billion, made the largest decrease, down 20 percent on 2016. AP