New Delhi: India and China are among the two Asian nations to figure in the top five of global military expenditure which is estimated to have been $1917 billion in 2019, the highest level since 1988. The total was 3.6 per cent higher in real terms than in 2018 and 7.2 per cent higher than in 2010, says Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) Yearbook 2019 .
It said that world military spending rose in each of the five years from 2015, having decreased steadily from 2011 until 2014 following the global financial and economic crisis.
It noted that military spending in Asia and Oceania was $523 billion in 2019 and accounted for 27 per cent of the global total. Five of the top 15 global spenders in 2019 are in Asia and Oceania: China (rank 2), India (rank 3),Japan (rank 9), South Korea (rank 10) and Australia (rank 13).
The report said that at $71.1 billion, India had the highest military spending in South Asia in 2019. It was 6.8 per cent higher in 2019 than in 2018. India’s military expenditure has risen significantly over the past few decades. It grew by 259 per cent over the 30-year period 1990–2019 and by 37 per cent over the decade 2010–19. However, its military burden fell from 2.7 per cent of GDP in 2010 to 2.4 per cent in 2019.
India’s tensions and rivalry with China and Pakistan are among the major drivers for its increased military spending. Pakistan’s own military expenditure rose by 70 per cent over the decade 2010–19, to reach $10.3 billion. Its military burden increased from 3.4 per cent of GDP in 2010 to 4.0 per cent in 2019.
The 4.8 per cent rise in the region’s military spending in 2019 continued an uninterrupted upward trend dating back to at least 1989. Asia and Oceania is the only region with continuous growth since 1989 and the growth of 51 per cent over the decade 2010–19 was by far the largest of any region. The increase was due primarily to the rise in Chinese military spending, which in 2019 accounted for 50 per cent of total spending in the region, up from 36 per cent in 2010.
There were substantial increases in all of Asia and Oceania’s subregions between 2018 and 2019 and over the decade 2010–19. Over both periods, the highest level of increase was in Central Asia (63 per cent in 2010–19 and 16 per cent in 2018–19).
In addition to China, Japan and South Korea are the largest military spenders in East Asia. Military spending by Japan was $47.6 billion in 2019, 0.1 per cent lower than in 2018. Its spending increased by 2.0 per cent between 2010 and 2019. In South Korea the upward trend in military spending since 2000 continued. In 2019 its military spending reached $43.9 billion, an increase of 7.5 per cent on 2018 and of 36 per cent on 2010.
The Yearbook highlights the regional and national military expenditure data for 2019 and trends over the decade 2010–19. The data is from the updated SIPRI Military Expenditure Database, which provides military expenditure data by country for the years 1949–2019.
The world military burden—global military expenditure as a share of global gross domestic product (GDP)—in 2019 was 2.2 per cent, a minor increase from 2018. Military spending per capita rose from $243 in 2018 to $249 in 2019, as the 1.1 per cent growth in the world population was surpassed by the growth in military spending.
Australia is by far the largest military spender in Oceania and its military expenditure in 2019 was $25.9 billion. This was 2.1 per cent higher than in 2018 and 23 per cent higher than in 2010. Australia perceives heightened military threats in its neighbourhood, including from China, and globally.
Military spending in South East Asia increased by 4.2 per cent in 2019 to reach $40.5 billion, after a 4.1 per cent fall in 2018. Over the decade 2010–19 spending increased by 34 per cent. Seven of the eight states in the subregion for which data is available increased their military spending between 2010 and 2019. The largest spenders in the sub region in 2019 were Singapore (28 per cent of the sub regional total), Indonesia (19 per cent) and Thailand (18 per cent).
For several states the increases in the past decade are partly to pay for expansion of the capabilities of their armed forces as a reaction to Chinese claims and activities in the South China Sea.
With military expenditure of $732 billion, the USA remained by far the largest spender in the world in 2019, accounting for 38 per cent of global military spending. The USA spent almost as much on its military in 2019 as the next 10 highest spenders combined.
US military expenditure was 5.3 per cent higher in 2019 than in 2018. This is the second year of growth in US military spending following seven years of continuous decline—between 2010 and 2017 spending fell by 22 per cent.
The growth in the USA’s military spending between 2017 and 2019 can be attributed to an increase in personnel costs from the recruitment of 16,000 additional military personnel and the ongoing modernization of its conventional and nuclear weapon inventories. However, despite the recent increases, US military expenditure in 2019 remained 15 per cent lower than its peak in 2010 when the USA’s military burden was 4.9 per cent of GDP.
