SIPRI Reports

➡️ SIPRI REPORT 2025 - World Military Expenditure Reaches An Unprecedented $2887 Billion

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute is an independent think tank that specialises in research on conflict, the arms trade, arms control, militarisation, and disarmament. SIPRI was established in 1966 and has its headquarters in Sweden.

Their full SIPRI Yearbook is released every year in June, but throughout the year, other smaller reports are published, such as the Arms Industry report in December and the Arms Transfers report in March.

The annual Military Expenditure report is released in April, coinciding with the Global Days of Military Action (GDAMs) campaign, organised by GCOMS (Global Campaign on Military Spending) and the International Peace Bureau (IPB).

The April 2026 report revealed a 2.9% increase from the year before, marking 11 consecutive years of growth. The U.S. once again is by far the biggest spender.

This trend of rampant military spending shows no signs of slowing. It is no coincidence that the world is experiencing the highest number of conflicts since 1945, the end of WWII.

As healthcare and education budgets shrink, it is high time the world seriously reassessed its priorities.

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Key Findings in the April 2026 Report

• $2.88 trillion amounts to $350 in military spending per person on the planet.
• In 2025, the five biggest military spenders accounted for more than half of global military spending.
• The top five spenders were the U.S ($954bn), China ($336bn), Russia ($190bn), Germany ($114bn) and India ($92bn).
• The U.S. spends more than the next six countries combined. They have been the biggest spender every year since WWII.
• Spending rose by 14% in Europe and by 8.1% in Asia and Oceania.
• Global military expenditure as a share of gross domestic product (GDP) is now 2.5%.
• US spending actually shrank as no new military aid for Ukraine was approved during the year. U.S. military spending was 7.5% lower in 2025 than in 2024.
• Rearmament efforts by European NATO members led to the sharpest annual growth in European spending since the end of the Cold War.
• The 29 European NATO members spent a combined total of $559 billion; of these, 22 of them had military spending of at least 2% of GDP.
• Germany’s military burden exceeded the 2% threshold for the first time since 1990, reaching 2.3% of GDP.
• Israel’s military spending remained 97% higher than in 2022.
• China, the world’s second-largest military spender, increased its military spending by 7.4% to $336 billion.
• In response to increasing pressure from China, Taiwan’s military spending rose by 14% to $18.2 billion, the largest annual increase since at least 1988.
• Nigeria’s military expenditure grew by 55% to $2.1 billion, as insurgencies and extremist violence contributed to worsening insecurity.

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This trend of year-on-year increases in military expenditure is deeply concerning in an increasingly volatile world. Citizens do not need more weapons, more destruction, and more suffering. They need social security, quality healthcare, free education, and a renewed commitment to human rights.

As states continue to prioritise armament and military strength, this constant state of posturing creates a domino effect. Investments into military capabilities and arms proliferation as a form of ‘defence’ merely lead to an unnecessary arms race and a dangerous security dilemma.

Relations between states are no longer built upon common security but are shrouded in uncertainty and fear. The risk of war is infinitely higher as states compete to build the largest and most advanced militaries.

A worldwide rethink of military budgets is critical as we continue to spiral down this tragic, anarchic path.

From a human rights, social justice, and common sense perspective, military expenditures must be reallocated to vital social needs, environmental protection, and peace initiatives.

The world does not become safer the more we build up armies to ‘protect’ ourselves; the result is quite the opposite.

“A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defence than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom” - Martin Luther King Jr.

Author: Rachael Mellor, 04.05.26 licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

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