Global military spending rose to nearly $2.9 trillion in 2025, marking an eleventh consecutive year of growth, according to a new report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), a Sweden-based think tank. The 2.9 percent increase from 2024 pushed the world's collective military burden — the share of global GDP devoted to defence — to its highest level since 2009, reaching approximately 2.5 percent. "Everything points to a world that feels less secure and is spending on its military to compensate for the global landscape," said SIPRI researcher Lorenzo Scarazzato.

The United States, China, and Russia remained the top three spenders, together accounting for $1.48 trillion — just over half of the global total. The US, the world's largest military spender, actually reduced its expenditure by 7.5 percent to $954 billion, primarily because no new financial military aid packages for Ukraine were approved during 2025. Washington had provided roughly $127 billion to Kyiv over the previous three years. However, this decline is widely expected to be temporary: the US Congress has already approved defence spending exceeding $1 trillion for 2026, a figure that could rise to $1.5 trillion by 2027 if President Donald Trump's budget proposals are enacted.

The primary engine of global growth was Europe, where spending surged 14 percent to $864 billion — the largest annual increase in western and central Europe since the end of the Cold War. Two forces drove that rise: the ongoing war in Ukraine, and a broader push among NATO allies to take greater responsibility for their own defence as US engagement with the continent has shifted. Germany became Europe's largest military spender, raising its budget by 24 percent to $114 billion. Spain recorded a 50 percent jump to $40.2 billion, pushing its spending above 2 percent of GDP for the first time since 1994. Ukraine itself increased spending by 20 percent to $84.1 billion — a remarkable 40 percent of its entire GDP — while Russia raised expenditure 5.9 percent to $190 billion, equivalent to 7.5 percent of its GDP.

In the Asia-Pacific region, spending rose 8.5 percent to $681 billion, the fastest annual growth since 2009. China, which has increased its defence budget every year for three decades, spent an estimated $336 billion, up roughly 7.4 percent. Neighbouring states are responding to shifting threat perceptions: Japan raised military expenditure by 9.7 percent to $62.2 billion — the highest share of GDP since 1958 — while Taiwan increased spending by 14 percent to $18.2 billion, its largest rise since 1988. In the Middle East, overall spending was nearly flat at $218 billion, partly because Israeli expenditure fell 4.9 percent to $48.3 billion following a January 2025 ceasefire in Gaza, though Israeli spending remains roughly double its 2022 level. Iran's spending declined 5.6 percent in real terms to $7.4 billion, largely as a result of 42 percent annual inflation.

SIPRI warned that the upward trajectory is unlikely to reverse soon. With wars continuing, long-term rearmament targets in place across NATO and Asia, and US domestic defence budgets set to climb sharply, researchers expect global military spending to rise further in 2026 and beyond. The figures underscore a fundamental shift in how governments are allocating public resources as geopolitical competition intensifies on multiple fronts simultaneously.