Global military spending rises nearly 3 percent

Despite a 7.5 percent decline in United States military expenditure after President Donald Trump halted new financial and military aid to Ukraine, global military spending rose by 2.9 percent in 2025, reaching a record 2.89 trillion dollars, according to a report released on Monday by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

The increase marked the 11th consecutive year of rising global military expenditure, with spending as a share of world gross domestic product (GDP) reaching 2.5 percent, its highest level since 2009.

The top three military spenders — the United States, China and Russia — accounted for a combined 1.48 trillion dollars, or 51 percent of global spending . The US remained the world's largest spender at 954 billion dollars, followed by China at 336 billion dollars and Russia at 190 billion dollars.

SIPRI noted that the decline in US spending was likely to be short-lived, as Congress has already approved more than 1 trillion dollars for 2026, with President Trump proposing a 1.5 trillion dollar defence budget for 2027.

Europe was the main contributor to the global increase, with military spending in the region rising by 14 percent to 864 billion dollars . Military spending by European NATO members grew faster in 2025 than at any time since 1953, reflecting both the push for European self-reliance and US pressure for greater burden-sharing within the alliance.

In the Middle East, Israel's military spending fell by 4.9 percent to 48.3 billion dollars as hostilities in Gaza eased following a ceasefire . Iran's military spending dropped for the second consecutive year, falling by 5.6 percent to 74 billion dollars.

SIPRI warned that the growth trend is likely to continue through 2026 and beyond, given the range of current crises and many states' long-term military spending targets.