Spending by the United States rose by 5.7 percent and China by 7 percent.
Global expenditure saw an increase of “9.4 percent in real terms from 2023 and the steepest year-on-year rise since at least the end of the Cold War,” the report said.
“The world’s 15 largest spenders in 2024 all increased their military expenditure. The global military burden—the share of global gross domestic product (GDP) devoted to military expenditure—increased to 2.5 percent in 2024.”
The United States’ military spending jumped 5.7 percent from 2023 to hit $997 billion last year.
“A significant portion of the U.S. budget for 2024 was dedicated to modernizing military capabilities and the U.S. nuclear arsenal in order to maintain a strategic advantage over Russia and China,” SIPRI said.
U.S. military spending accounted for 66 percent of total NATO expenditure last year. European NATO members spent $454 billion, making up 30 percent of the military alliance’s spending.
Related Stories
According to SIPRI’s analysis, out of the 32 NATO member nations, only 18 spent 2 percent of their GDP on military.
This “is what it should have been years ago—it was only at 2 percent, and most nations didn’t pay until I came along, I insisted that they pay, and they did,” he said.
The same day, Mark Rutte, the secretary general of NATO, said Trump was right to demand that NATO members spend 5 percent on defense.
As for Europe specifically, military expenses in 2024 jumped 17 percent yearly to $693 billion, according to the SIPRI report. It said Europe was the “main contributor” to the global increase in military expenditures last year.
Lorenzo Scarazzato, a researcher with the SIPRI Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme, said that “for the first time since reunification, Germany became the biggest military spender in Western Europe, which was due to the €100 billion (roughly $114 billion) special defense fund announced in 2022.”
“The latest policies adopted in Germany and many other European countries suggest that Europe has entered a period of high and increasing military spending that is likely to continue for the foreseeable future.”
China’s Spending
SIPRI identified China’s military expenditures as having risen by 7 percent to an estimated $314 billion in 2024. China is the second-largest military spender in the world.
“China accounted for 50 percent of all military spending in Asia and Oceania, investing in the continued modernization of its military and expansion of its cyberwarfare capabilities and nuclear arsenal,” said the report.
Military expenditures by China’s neighbors also rose, with Japan’s spending jumping 21 percent, which is the country’s largest yearly increase since 1952. Taiwan’s military expenses rose by 1.8 percent and India’s by 1.6 percent.
Nan Tian, director of the SIPRI Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme, said that “major military spenders in the Asia–Pacific region are investing increasing resources into advanced military capabilities.”
“With several unresolved disputes and mounting tensions, these investments risk sending the region into a dangerous arms-race spiral.”
This military spending hike will be higher than China’s 5 percent targeted economic growth for this year.
“For instance, the average salary in China is about $1,000 per month, while it is closer to $7,000 in the United States. This means that for the same expenditure, China can hire seven workers for every one U.S. worker, allowing its defense expenditures to be far more efficient despite being lower in absolute dollar terms,” Graceffo writes.
“When adjusted for PPP, China’s defense budget appears roughly equivalent to that of the United States.”
However, Beijing faces cost disadvantages, he said. For instance, imported technology, parts, and raw materials must be paid for in dollars, which would make these items “significantly more expensive “ for China than the United States.