Military Spending Ticks up in Europe and the Middle East

After Russia's invasion of Ukraine, military spending in Europe has ticked up and it did so more abruptly than in Asia, where budgets have been rising relatively steadily as economies on the continent are growing. While Eastern military expenditure has seen a steep increase since 2022, Western European budgets needed more time to level up in the face of global instability. Military spending in the Middle East also inched up, according to data newly released by SIPRI.

North American military expenditure has fluctuated, but remains the biggest regional budget with the large majority of spending tied to the U.S. military.

Asian countries like India and China have grown their defense expenditure steadily over the past 15 years. Comparing to the economies of the respective countries, however, expenditure has grown roughly in line with GDP since 2013 and stood at around 2.3 percent in India and 1.7 percent in China last year. Along with their large neighbors' military prowess, other countries in Asia have also seen military spending grow rapidly. This applies to countries close to regional security hot spot the South China Sea, for example Cambodia and the Philippines.