An Airbus A400M from German Air Transport Wing 62 refuels a U.S. Air Force MV-22 B Osprey over northern Germany on March 19, 2025. The U.S. and Germany are among the top five military spenders worldwide, according to the latest annual assessment on global military expenditures by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. (Christian Timmig/German armed forces)
Global military spending soared to $2.7 trillion in 2024, marking the largest year-on-year uptick since at least the end of the Cold War, according to a new research report released Monday.
The findings, part of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute’s annual assessment on military expenditures, showed an annual increase of 9.4% from 2023.
Military spending in Europe, including Russia, rose by 17% and accounted for $693 billion, SIPRI said. The top five military spenders — the United States, China, Russia, Germany and India — accounted for 60% of the global total, it added.
While the war in Ukraine has prompted the Kremlin to ramp up military spending, it also has forced NATO allies in Europe to do the same amid concerns about potential Russian aggression.
Germany’s military spending increased by 28% to reach $88.5 billion, making it the biggest spender in central and western Europe and the fourth-biggest in the world, SIPRI said.
“For the first time since reunification Germany became the biggest military spender in Western Europe, which was due to the (100 billion euro) special defense fund announced in 2022,” SIPRI researcher Lorenzo Scarazzato said in a statement summarizing the report.
For years, Germany has faced criticism from the United States for being a defense spending laggard in NATO. President Donald Trump also has made Germany the focal point of his complaints about European overreliance on the U.S. for its security.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also has said that Europe needs to take on the bulk of the security burden on the Continent going forward.
Germany and many other European countries appear to have now entered a period of higher military spending that is likely to continue for the foreseeable future, Scarazzato said.
Meanwhile, Russia’s military expenditure reached an estimated $149 billion in 2024, a 38% increase from 2023 and double the level in 2015, SIPRI said. The amount represented 7.1% of Russia’s gross domestic product and 19% of all Russian government spending, researchers said.
Ukraine’s total military expenditure grew by 2.9% to reach $64.7 billion, adding up to 34% of its GDP. Ukraine had the largest military burden of any country in 2024, SIPRI said.
Military expenditure in the Middle East reached an estimated $243 billion in 2024, an increase of 15% from 2023, the report said.
Israel’s spending made up a large portion of that increase, with expenditures surging by 65% to $46.5 billion in 2024. That was the steepest annual increase for Israel since the Six-Day War in 1967, SIPRI said.
