World #military expenditure rose by 3.7% in real terms in 2022, to reach a record high of USD 2,240 bil, according to SIPRI Military Database. Global spending grew by 19% over the decade 2013–22.
A country’s military expenditure as a share of GDP (also known as the military burden) remained stable at 2.2% in 2022.
On average, states in the Middle East had the highest military burden in 2022, at 3.9% of GDP. Europe had the next highest burden (2.5%), followed by Africa (1.7%), Asia and Oceania (1.5%) and the Americas (1.2%).
Russian-Ukrainan War was a major driver of the growth in spending in 2022. Military expenditure in Europe rose by 13% during the year, which was the largest annual increase in total European spending in the post-cold war era.
In 2022 Ukraine’s military spending reached USD 44 bil, a more than six-fold increase when compared to 2021. In 2021 Ukraine’s military expenditure was less than one tenth of Russia’s, but in 2022 this gap narrowed and it spent around half as much as Russia.
In relative terms, Ukraine’s military burden rose from 3.2% of GDP in 2021 to 34% in 2022.
Note: Military assistance in the form of financial support and donations of equipment from several countries are not included in SIPRI’s estimate of Ukraine’s military spending.
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