(TheLastPatriotNews.com) – The world’s military spending reached record levels of a combined total of $2.24 trillion in 2022, a sharp increase primarily due to the invasion of Ukraine by Putin’s Russia, according to a Sweden-based nonprofit watchdog.
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) annual report reveals that global military spending grew by 3.7% last year compared with 2021, as cited by AP and Newsmax.
However, Europe saw a 13% increase, the continent’s highest spike in arms spending since the end of the Cold War with the former Soviet Union more than 30 years ago.
Putin’s Russia invaded Ukraine, a nation roughly the size of Texas, on February 24, 2022. According to SIPRI, the increased threat from Moscow and military aid to the Ukrainians “strongly influenced many other states’ spending decisions.”
The report noted that the United States, China, and Russia remained the three biggest military spenders last year, accounting for 56% of global defense spending.
“The rise is a sign that we are living in an increasingly insecure world,” commented Nan Tian, a researcher with SIPRI’s Military Expenditure and Arms Production Program.
It is noted that several nations spiked their military spending as a result of Russia’s attack against Ukraine: Finland by 36 %, Lithuania by 27%, Sweden by 12%, and Poland by 11%.
“While the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 certainly affected military spending decisions in 2022, concerns about Russian aggression have been building for much longer,” commented Lorenzo Scarazzato, another SIPRI researcher.
“Many former Eastern bloc states have more than doubled their military spending since 2014, the year when Russia annexed Crimea,” he added.
According to the Swedish think-tank, Russia’s military spending increased by an estimated 9.2% in 2022, reaching around $86.4 billion. That was about 4.1% of the Russian GDP in 2022 compared with 3.7% in 2021.
Military spending in Ukraine, the victim of Russia’s aggression, increased over six times, reaching $44 billion. It marked the highest single-year spike in any country’s military spending since SIPRI was founded in 1966.
America’s defense spending stood at $877 billion in 2022, 39% of total global military expenditures. The US outspent Communist China, the second biggest military spender, more than three times.
The 2022 US military spending increase of 0.7% in real terms compared with 2021 would have been the biggest ever if it hadn’t been for the sky-high inflation.
“The increase in the USA’s military spending in 2022 was largely accounted for by the unprecedented level of financial military aid it provided to Ukraine,” Nan Tian explained.
“Given the scale of US spending, even a minor increase in percentage terms has a significant impact on the level of global military expenditure,” the SIPRI analyst added.
World Military Spending: Global military spending grew for the eighth consecutive year in 2022 to an all-time high of $2.24 trillion, with a sharp rise in Europe, chiefly due to Russian and Ukrainian expenditure, a Swedish think tank said Monday. https://t.co/9zjXqfXchu
— NEWSMAX (@NEWSMAX) April 24, 2023
