WUNRN
TRENDS IN WORLD MILITARY EXPENDITURE
- 2013
Military
Spending vs. Gender Equality - Who Decides? Who Profits? Who Cares?
Stockholm International Peace
Research Institute
SIPRI
monitors developments in military expenditure worldwide and maintains the most
comprehensive, consistent and extensive data source available on military
expenditure. Military expenditure refers to all government spending on current
military forces and activities, including salaries and benefits, operational
expenses, arms and equipment purchases, military construction, research and
development, and central administration, command and support. SIPRI therefore
discourages the use of terms such as ‘arms spending’ when referring to military
expenditure, as spending on armaments is usually only a minority of the total.
MILITARY SPENDING CONTINUES TO FALL
IN THE WEST, BUT RISES EVERYWHERE ELSE - SIPRI
(Stockholm,
14 April 2014) World military expenditure totalled $1.75 trillion in 2013, a
fall of 1.9 per cent in real terms since 2012, according to figures released
today by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). The
comprehensive annual update of the SIPRI Military Expenditure Database is
accessible at www.sipri.org.
Download
the SIPRI Fact Sheet, 'Trends
in world military expenditure, 2013'.
The fall in the global total comes from
decreases in Western countries, led by the United States, and despite increases
in all other regions. In fact, military spending in the rest of the world
excluding the USA increased by 1.8 per cent.
The next three highest spenders—China, Russia and Saudi Arabia—all made
substantial increases, with Saudi Arabia leapfrogging the United Kingdom, Japan
and France to become the world’s fourth largest military spender. China, Russia
and Saudi Arabia are among the 23 countries around the world that have more
than doubled their military expenditure since 2004.
The fall in US spending in 2013, by 7.8 per cent, is the result of the end of
the war in Iraq, the beginning of the drawdown from Afghanistan, and the
effects of automatic budget cuts passed by the US Congress in 2011. Meanwhile,
austerity policies continued to determine trends in Western and Central Europe
and in other Western countries.
‘The increase in military spending in emerging and developing countries
continues unabated,’ said Dr Sam Perlo-Freeman, Director of SIPRI’s Military
Expenditure Programme. ‘While in some cases it is the natural result of
economic growth or a response to genuine security needs, in other cases it
represents a squandering of natural resource revenues, the dominance of
autocratic regimes, or emerging regional arms races.’
Military spending in the Middle East increased by 4.0 per cent in 2013,
reaching an estimated $150 billion. Saudi Arabia’s spending increased by 14 per
cent, to reach $67 billion, possibly due to tensions with Iran but also the
desire to maintain strong and loyal security forces to insure against potential
‘Arab Spring’ type protests.
Maintaining regime survival in the face of internal opposition is also the
likely motive for Bahrain’s 26 per cent increase. However, the largest regional
increase was by Iraq (27 per cent), as it continued the rebuilding of its armed
forces.
‘Military spending data for Iran, Qatar, Syria and the United Arab Emirates are
not available for 2013, which means that the estimated regional total is highly
uncertain. This reflects the general opacity of military spending in the
region, and even where data is available it may not cover all military spending,’
said Dr Perlo-Freeman.
Resources fuelling arms acquisitions in Africa
Military spending in Africa increased by 8.3 per cent in 2013, reaching an estimated $44.9 billion. Over two-thirds of the African countries for which data is available increased military spending in 2013. Algeria became the first country in Africa with military spending over $10 billion, an increase of 8.8 per cent since 2012, and of 176 per cent since 2004. Meanwhile, Angola increased its spending by 36 per cent in 2013, to overtake South Africa as the largest military spender in sub-Saharan Africa, and the second highest on the continent. High oil revenues appear to be a factor driving both Algeria’s and Angola’s military spending increases.
Military expenditure in Asia and Oceania rose
by 3.6 per cent in 2013, reaching $407 billion. The increase is mostly
accounted for by a 7.4 per cent increase by China, whose spending reached an
estimated $188 billion. Territorial disputes with China are driving military
spending increases in countries such as the Philippines and Viet Nam.
‘Japan’s concerns over China’s growing military power, combined with the
Japanese Government’s own nationalist policies, have led to Japan ending its
long, gradual decline in military spending. Nevertheless, the largest increase
in the region in 2013 was by Afghanistan, by 77 per cent, as it builds up its
security forces in preparation from the withdrawal of most foreign troops at
the end of 2014,’ said Dr Perlo-Freeman.