Comparison of US, Chinese and Russian military spending

According to the report of the international group Tasnim news agency quoting “Tass” news agency, according to the report of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, in 2023, military spending in general worldwide grew by 6.8 percent and reached a record of 2.443 trillion dollars or 2.3 percent of the global GDP.

In its annual Trends In World Military Expenditure survey, the growth was the highest since 2009 and global defense spending reached the highest level ever recorded by the institute. Experts noted: “The increase in global military spending in 2023 can be explained primarily by the ongoing war in Ukraine, as well as the intensification of geopolitical tensions in Asia, Oceania and the Middle East.”

They observed this trend in all five geographic regions, with the strongest in Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East. The top five defense spending countries remain unchanged in 2022: the United States at $916 billion, or 3.4 percent of GDP, followed by China at $296 billion, or 1.7 percent of GDP. Russia, which spent $109 billion or 5.9% of GDP, followed by India with $83.6 billion or 2.4% of GDP and Saudi Arabia with $75.8 billion or 7.1% of GDP. .

The United States and China together account for almost half of the world’s defense spending, which is 37% and 12% of the global figure, respectively.

The US costs three times as much as China. Washington’s priority area is research, development, test and evaluation (RDT&E), in which it has invested 9.4 percent more than in 2022.

Beijing’s defense spending has increased by about 6 percent compared to 2022, and in total, China has accounted for half of the total military spending in Asia and the Pacific. Beijing has steadily increased its spending over the past 29 years, but the pace has slowed slightly in the past ten years, which analysts say is due to China’s slow economic growth.

24% increase in Russian military spending

Russian military spending in 2023 has increased by 24% compared to 2022 and by 57% compared to 2014 . Experts believe that these figures are “highly uncertain” due to the increasing lack of transparency of the Russian financial system. The survey states: “The increase in Russian military spending in 2023 was mainly due to Russia’s economic performance, which exceeded expectations despite a significant decline in oil and gas revenues.”

The SIPRI Institute, citing the Russian government budget for 2024-2026, has predicted that Moscow will continue to increase its military spending in the coming years.

In total, the top ten countries in this table account for 74 percent of global spending, or $1.799 trillion. In addition, the total expenditure of the 31 NATO members (the 32nd member – Sweden, will join the alliance in 2024) amounts to 1.341 trillion dollars or 55% of the global expenditure, of which 68% of this investment is related to the United States alone. .

Israel, which is ranked 15th in 2023 in the midst of a war with Hamas, invested 24 percent more in defense than in 2022, and its military spending in This field reached 27.5 billion dollars, and thus, after Saudi Arabia, Israel has the highest military expenditure in the Middle East region.

Earlier, in mid-April, the head of the commission Europe’s Ursula von der Leyen said EU countries’ military budgets would increase by 20 percent from 2022. According to him, this budget begins to compensate for the lack of funds in the military field.

In late March, Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the difference in military spending between the Russian Federation And the United States commented, noting that the US military budget is almost 10 times higher and that almost 40% of the world’s military spending is spent in the United States.

In Earlier that month, the White House released its fiscal year 2025 budget proposal. The US government asked Congress to approve a request for $61.4 billion in aid to Ukraine. Total US defense spending in 2025 should be $850 billion, which is $34 billion more than the amount approved in the country’s 2024 budget.

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