Germany Rises to Global Top 5 of Military Spenders
According to numbers released this week by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, Germany's exceptional allocation of funds to its military, the so-called "Sondervermögen", has catapulted the country into the top 5 of global military spenders. The country is listed as the biggest spender behind the United States, China and Russia and ahead of the United Kingdom in the release, having spent a converted $86 billion on its military last year.
The think tank does not release military spending figures to the public each year. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, however, Germany had still ranked behind the United Kingdom as well as Saudi Arabia last year.
Even though China and Russia have drastically increased their military expenditure over the course of the past decade, they come nowhere near matching the United States. Military expenditure in the country amounted to almost $1 trillion in 2024, ahead of China and Russia even if adjusting their spends for purchasing power parity.
China is the world’s second-biggest military spender with $235 billion spent in 2024 ($477 billion PPP), trailing the United States by a long distance. Russia comes third, having spent $146 billion on its military in 2024 ($462 billion PPP).