The second figure presents defense outlays of the top six nations as a proportion of their respective gross domestic products (GDPs). Military Expenditures as a Percentage of GDP We turn next to the second figure to get some perspective on what may have driven these changes in defense expenditures. and Russia, but rose steadily in the 2000s to exceed all other nations’ outlays except that of the U.S. Its defense spending in the early 1990s was lower than that of the U.K. What is quite remarkable is the evolution of China’s defense outlays in comparison to those of the other nations. NOTE: The top six countries were those with the highest defense spending (in constant 2020 U.S. SOURCES: Stockholm International Peace Research Institute and authors’ calculations. Top Six Countries by Military Expenditures Some of these values are estimates from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. In comparison, the other four nations had more modest outlays, ranging from Saudi Arabia’s $53.8 billion to India’s $73.6 billion. had by far the largest military budget at $767.8 billion in 2021, but China’s outlay was also quite large at $270 billion. For expositional convenience, the rest of this piece will discuss these top six nations, although they may not represent the top nations using other metrics of defense spending. The following figure identifies the top six nations in terms of real defense spending (in constant 2020 dollars) since 1992, which is the first calendar year after the breakup of the Soviet Union and the resulting emergence of an independent Russia in December 1991. Top Six Nations in Terms of Defense Outlays Then we discuss what seems to be driving the evolution of spending of these nations, and what that may indicate for the pattern of future defense spending around the world. In this blog post, we first identify the six nations with the highest military spending over the most recent five-year period (2017 to 2021). The evolution of relative defense capabilities, among other factors, helps shape the course of the geopolitical balance of power. (For example, military budgets might or might not cover civil defense, reserves and auxiliary forces, police and paramilitary forces, dual-purpose forces such as military and civilian police, military grants in kind, pensions for military personnel, and social security contributions paid by one part of government to another.As the Russia-Ukraine war raises global tension and disrupts the world economy, it is useful to look at the patterns of defense spending around the world. This definition cannot be applied for all countries, however, since that would require much more detailed information than is available about what is included in military budgets and off-budget military expenditure items. Excluded are civil defense and current expenditures for previous military activities, such as for veterans' benefits, demobilization, conversion, and destruction of weapons. Such expenditures include military and civil personnel, including retirement pensions of military personnel and social services for personnel operation and maintenance procurement military research and development and military aid (in the military expenditures of the donor country). Military expenditures data from SIPRI are derived from the NATO definition, which includes all current and capital expenditures on the armed forces, including peacekeeping forces defense ministries and other government agencies engaged in defense projects paramilitary forces, if these are judged to be trained and equipped for military operations and military space activities.
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