Global military spending increases despite COVID-19 pandemic — report | DW | 26.04.2021

Total military expenditure worldwide increased by 2.6% in 2020 reaching almost $2 trillion (€1.65 trillion), despite the global coronavirus pandemic and economic downturn, according to a report published by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) on Monday.

Due to the global fall in gross domestic product (GDP), the so-called military burden — military spending as a share of GDP — rose to an average of 2.4%, up from 2.2% in 2019, the biggest year-on-year increase since the financial crisis of 2009.

"We can say with some certainty that the pandemic did not have a significant impact on global military spending in 2020," said Diego Lopes da Silva, a researcher with the SIPRI Arms and Military Expenditure Programme.

"It remains to be seen whether countries will maintain this level of military spending through a second year of the pandemic," he added.

Just five countries — the US, China, India, Russia and the UK — made up 62% of all military spending.