Military spending around the world rose almost 7 per cent to a record $2.4tn last year, the steepest annual increase in 15 years, according to research.
Russia’s war in Ukraine was the main driver of European defence spending, but for the first time since 2009, military expenditure also increased in the other four main geographical regions, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, a leading think-tank, said Monday.
Escalating geopolitical tensions in Asia and the Middle East helped drive the increase in global defence spending to 2.3 per cent of global economic output, Sipri said in its latest annual survey of global defence spending.