India becomes 3rd highest in the world in military spending

India becomes 3rd highest in the world in military spending

In 2021 the five largest military spending countries are the United States, China, India, the United Kingdom and Russia, with combined 62 per cent of expenditure.

India becomes 3rd highest in military spending

According to the report of  the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) that World military expenditure reached an all-time high of USD 2.1 trillion in 2021.

The top three largest spending countries are the United States, China and India.

In a statement SIPRI said that, "Total global military expenditure increased by 0.7 per cent in real terms in 2021, to reach 2.1 trillion in USD. The five largest spending countries in 2021 are the United States, China, India, the United Kingdom and Russia, with combined 62 per cent of expenditure."

"Even amid the economic fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic, world military spending hit record levels," Senior Researcher of SIPRI's Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme Dr Diego Lopes da Silva said in statement. "There was a slowdown in the rate of real-terms growth due to inflation. However In nominal terms the global military spending grew up by 6.1 per cent."

After the economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, defence spending reached to 2.2 percent of global GDP, while in 2020 this figure was reached 2.3 percent of global GDP.

Military spending of USA reached 801 billion USD in 2021, a drop of 1.4 per cent from 2020, as per the report. In the period from 2012 to 2021, the spending for military research and development increased by 24 percent and reduced spending on arms purchases by 6.4 per cent in USA, according to the report.

China got the second place in this list with a military spending of USD 293 billion USD. China's military spending has increased 4.7 per cent compared with 2020. 

In military spending India ranked third with 76.6 billion USD with an increase of 0.9 percent in comparison with 2020. From 2012 to 2021 India's military spending has increased by 33 percent.

To strengthen the indigenous arms industry, 64 per cent of military spending in the military budget of 2021 were earmarked for acquisitions of domestically produced arms.

With the spending of  68.4 billion USD on defense UK secured 4th position in the list with increase of 3 percent compared with 2020, as per the report.

Russia took the fifth highest position in defense spending with a budget of 65.9 billion USD. Russia increased its spending on defense by 2.9 percent in comparison of 2020. According to the report Russia's spending on budget reached 4.1 percent of Russia's GDP in 2021.