STOCKHOLM, April 27. /TASS/. Global military expenditure reached $2.887 trillion in 2025, which is 2.9% higher than in 2024, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) reported.

Military spending declined in the US but rose by 14% in Europe, and by 8.1% in Asia and Oceania, according to the report. The top three military spenders, the United States, China and Russia, spent a combined total of $1.48 trillion, or 51% of the global total, SIPRI said.

Military spending increased for the 11th consecutive year. Its share of GDP reached 2.5%, the highest level since 2009. At 2.9%, the annual spending increase was significantly smaller than the 9.7% rise recorded in 2024. However, this slowdown is largely accounted for by a drop in US military spending, the Institute’s analysts explained. Outside the US, total spending grew by 9.2% in 2025. The top five countries by this indicator in 2025 were the United States, China, Russia, Germany and India, which together accounted for 58% of global military spending.

"Global military spending rose again in 2025 as states responded to another year of wars, uncertainty and geopolitical upheaval with large-scale armament drives," Xiao Liang, Researcher with SIPRI’s Military Expenditure and Arms Production Program, said. "Given the range of current crises, as well as many states’ long-term military spending targets, this growth will probably continue through 2026 and beyond," he noted.

Russia’s military spending grew by 5.9% in 2025 to $190 bln, giving it a military burden of 7.5% of GDP, according to the report. Ukraine, the seventh largest spender in 2025, increased its spending by 20% to $84.1 bln, or 40% of GDP.

"In 2025, military expenditure as a share of government spending reached the highest level ever recorded in both Russia and Ukraine," said Lorenzo Scarazzato, Researcher with the SIPRI Military Expenditure and Arms Production Program. "Their spending is likely to keep growing in 2026 if the war continues, with revenues from Russia’s oil sales increasing and a major European Union loan expected by Ukraine," he added.

US spending has been contracting as no new military aid to Ukraine has been approved for a year, SIPRI said. At $954 bln, military spending by the United States was 7.5% lower in 2025 than in 2024. "However, the USA increased investments in both nuclear and conventional military capabilities to maintain dominance in the Western Hemisphere and deter China in the Indo-Pacific, which are key goals of the new National Security Strategy," the report said.

Program Director of the SIPRI Military Expenditure and Arms Production Program Nan Tian expects the decline in US military expenditure in 2025 to be short-lived. "Spending approved by the US Congress for 2026 has risen to over $1 trillion, a substantial increase from 2025, and could rise further to $1.5 trillion in 2027 if President Trump’s latest budget proposal is accepted," he said.

The main contributor to the global increase in military spending in 2025 was a 14% rise in Europe to $864 bln, SIPRI’s analysts stressed. "Spending by Russia and Ukraine continued to grow in the fourth year of the war in Ukraine, while ongoing rearmament efforts by European NATO members led to the sharpest annual growth in spending in Central and Western Europe since the end of the cold war," the report said.

Military expenditure in the Middle East reached an estimated $218 bln in 2025, just 0.1% higher than in 2024. The military expenditure of Israel decreased by 4.9% to $48.3 bln, "reflecting a reduction in the intensity of the war in Gaza during 2025 after the ceasefire agreement with Hamas in January 2025," according to the report. Nevertheless, Israel’s spending remained 97% higher than in 2022. Military spending by Turkey grew by 7.2% in 2025 to $30 bln, "partly driven by its ongoing military operations in Iraq, Somalia and Syria," SIPRI said.

Spending by Iran declined for the second consecutive year, falling by 5.6% to $7.4 bln in 2025. "The real-terms decrease was due to high annual inflation of 42%, and spending increased in nominal terms," the report said.