A report issued Monday by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute revealed that global military spending reached $2.89 trillion in 2025, recording an increase for the eleventh year in a row. According to the Center specialized in conflict affairs, the share of the three largest countries in terms of military spending, namely the United States, China and Russia, amounted to a total of $1.48 trillion, or 51 percent of global spending.
Published on: 04/27/2026 - 08:26
Global military spending increased by 2.9 percent in 2025, according to a report issued Monday by a research center specializing in conflict affairs.
Despite a 7.5 percent decrease in the United States, as President Donald Trump stopped providing any new military financial aid to Ukraine, data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute revealed that spending rose to $2.89 trillion in 2025, recording an increase for the eleventh year in a row, and raising the percentage of spending in global gross domestic product to 2.5 percent, which is its highest level since 2009.
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“Given the current set of crises, as well as the long-term military spending goals of many countries, this growth is likely to continue until 2026 and beyond,” the institute said in the report.
The share of the three largest countries in terms of military spending, namely the United States, China and Russia, amounted to a total of $1.48 trillion, or 51 percent of global spending.
The report stated that US military spending decreased to $954 billion in 2025, mainly due to the failure to approve any new military financial aid to Ukraine.
In the previous three years, total US military funding for Ukraine amounted to $127 billion.
“The decline in US military spending in 2025 is likely to be short-lived,” the institute said.
He added, "The spending approved by the US Congress for 2026 rose to more than one trillion dollars, which is a significant increase from 2025, and it may rise further to 1.5 trillion dollars in 2027."
The main factor behind the rise in global spending was the 14 percent increase in Europe, reaching $864 billion.
Russian and Ukrainian spending continued to grow in the fourth year of the war, while increases recorded by European NATO members led to the strongest annual growth in Central and Western Europe since the end of the Cold War.
Israeli spending decreased by 4.9 percent to reach $48.3 billion, with the intensity of the war in Gaza declining in 2025, while Iranian spending decreased for the second year in a row, as it fell by 5.6 percent to reach $7.4 billion.
France 24/Reuters
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