New Delhi: There was no change in the top 15 military spenders in the world in 2019 as compared to the previous year though there were some significant changes in the rankings among the highest spenders.

Together, the top 15 countries spent US$1553 billion in 2019, accounting for 81 per cent of global military expenditure.

All but three countries in the top 15 had higher military expenditure in 2019 than in 2010. The exceptions were the United States (–15 per cent), the United Kingdom (–15 per cent) and Italy (–11 per cent). China’s increase (85 per cent) was by far the largest among the top 15, say the Yearbook 2019 of Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

Among the top 15 military spenders in 2019, Japan had the lowest military burden: it devoted only 0.9 per cent of its GDP to military expenditure. Saudi Arabia had the highest, 8.0 per cent. Among the top 15, the military burdens of Israel (5.3 per cent), Russia (3.9 per cent), the US (3.4 per cent), South Korea (2.7 per cent) and India (2.4 per cent) were also higher than the global military burden.

With military expenditure of US$732 billion, the US remained by far the largest spender in the world in 2019, accounting for 38 per cent of global military spending. The US 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 when spending fell by 22 per cent.

The growth in the US’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 modernisation 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 US’s military burden was 4.9 per cent of GDP.

China, the world’s second-largest military spender, is estimated to have allocated US$261 billion to the military in 2019—equivalent to 14 per cent of global military expenditure. Its military spending in 2019 was 5.1 per cent higher than in 2018 and 85 per cent higher than in 2010.

China’s military expenditure has increased continuously since 1994 (for 25 consecutive years). The growth in its military spending has closely matched the country’s economic growth. Between 2010 and 2019, China’s military burden remained almost unchanged, at 1.9 per cent of its GDP.

The 6.8 per cent rise in India’s military spending in 2019 in combination with the significant fall in Saudi Arabia’s spending (–16 per cent) over the same period meant that India ranked third in 2019 for the first time. Saudi Arabia’s decrease and the increase in Russia’s spending (4.5 per cent) meant that Russia moved up one place in the rankings, from fifth to fourth, while Saudi Arabia fell from third to fifth.

At US$50.1 billion, France’s military spending in 2019 was the sixth highest in the world and the highest among states in Western Europe.

Germany had the highest annual increase (10 per cent) in military spending among the top 15 spenders in 2019 and moved up two places in the rankings, from ninth to seventh.

Six of the 15 highest spenders are members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO): the US, France, Germany, the UK, Italy and Canada. Together, these six accounted for 48 per cent (US$929 billion) of global military expenditure. Total spending by all 29 NATO members was US$1035 billion in 2019.