World military expenditure reached $2718 billion in 2024, an increase of 9.4 per cent in real terms from 2023 and the steepest year-on-year rise since at least the end of the cold war. Military spending increased in all world regions, with particularly rapid growth in Europe according to SIPRI
Military spending in Europe (including Russia) rose by 17 per cent to $693 billion and was the main contributor to the global increase in 2024. With the war in Ukraine in its third year, military expenditure kept rising across the continent, pushing European military spending beyond the level recorded at the end of the cold war. All European countries increased their military spending in 2024 except Malta.
Russia’s military expenditure reached an estimated $149 billion in 2024, a 38 per cent increase from 2023 and double the level in 2015. This represented 7.1 per cent of Russia’s GDP and 19 per cent of all Russian government spending. Ukraine’s total military expenditure grew by 2.9 per cent to reach $64.7 billion—equivalent to 43 per cent of Russia’s spending. At 34 per cent of GDP, Ukraine had the largest military burden of any country in 2024.
Russia once again significantly increased its military spending, widening the spending gap with Ukraine,’ said Diego Lopes da Silva, Senior Researcher with the SIPRI Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme. ‘Ukraine currently allocates all of its tax revenues to its military. In such a tight fiscal space, it will be challenging for Ukraine to keep increasing its military spending.’
Several countries in Central Europe and Western Europe saw unprecedented rises in their military expenditure in 2024 as they implemented new spending pledges and large-scale procurement plans. Germany’s military expenditure increased by 28 per cent to reach $88.5 billion, making it the biggest spender in Central and Western Europe and the fourth biggest in the world. Poland’s military spending grew by 31 per cent to $38.0 billion in 2024, representing 4.2 per cent of Poland’s GDP.
‘For the first time since reunification Germany became the biggest military spender in Western Europe, which was due to the €100 billion special defence fund announced in 2022,’ said Lorenzo Scarazzato, Researcher with the SIPRI Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme. ‘The latest policies adopted in Germany and many other European countries suggest that Europe has entered a period of high and increasing military spending that is likely to continue for the foreseeable future.’
Spending in a record number of NATO members reaches 2 per cent of GDP
All NATO members increased their military expenditure in 2024. Total military spending by NATO members amounted to $1506 billion, or 55 per cent of global military expenditure. Of the 32 NATO members, 18 spent at least 2.0 per cent of GDP on their militaries, according to SIPRI methodology, up from 11 in 2023 and the highest number since NATO adopted the spending guideline in 2014.
Military spending by the USA rose just by 5.7 per cent to reach $997 billion, which was 66 per cent of total NATO spending and 37 per cent of world military spending in 2024. A significant portion of the US budget for 2024 was dedicated to modernizing military capabilities and the US nuclear arsenal in order to maintain a strategic advantage over Russia and China. European NATO members spent $454 billion in total, representing 30 per cent of total spending across the alliance.
‘The rapid spending increases among European NATO members were driven mainly by the ongoing Russian threat and concerns about possible US disengagement within the alliance,’ said Jade Guiberteau Ricard, Researcher with the SIPRI Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme. ‘It is worth saying that boosting spending alone will not necessarily translate into significantly greater military capability or independence from the USA. Those are far more complex tasks.’
Russia’s military expenditure reached an estimated $149 billion in 2024, a 38 per cent increase from 2023 and double the level in 2015. This represented 7.1 per cent of Russia’s GDP and 19 per cent of all Russian government spending. Ukraine’s total military expenditure grew by 2.9 per cent to reach $64.7 billion—equivalent to 43 per cent of Russia’s spending. At 34 per cent of GDP, Ukraine had the largest military burden of any country in 2024.
Russia once again significantly increased its military spending, widening the spending gap with Ukraine,’ said Diego Lopes da Silva, Senior Researcher with the SIPRI Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme. ‘Ukraine currently allocates all of its tax revenues to its military. In such a tight fiscal space, it will be challenging for Ukraine to keep increasing its military spending.’
Several countries in Central Europe and Western Europe saw unprecedented rises in their military expenditure in 2024 as they implemented new spending pledges and large-scale procurement plans. Germany’s military expenditure increased by 28 per cent to reach $88.5 billion, making it the biggest spender in Central and Western Europe and the fourth biggest in the world. Poland’s military spending grew by 31 per cent to $38.0 billion in 2024, representing 4.2 per cent of Poland’s GDP.
‘For the first time since reunification Germany became the biggest military spender in Western Europe, which was due to the €100 billion special defence fund announced in 2022,’ said Lorenzo Scarazzato, Researcher with the SIPRI Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme. ‘The latest policies adopted in Germany and many other European countries suggest that Europe has entered a period of high and increasing military spending that is likely to continue for the foreseeable future.’
Spending in a record number of NATO members reaches 2 per cent of GDP
All NATO members increased their military expenditure in 2024. Total military spending by NATO members amounted to $1506 billion, or 55 per cent of global military expenditure. Of the 32 NATO members, 18 spent at least 2.0 per cent of GDP on their militaries, according to SIPRI methodology, up from 11 in 2023 and the highest number since NATO adopted the spending guideline in 2014.
Military spending by the USA rose just by 5.7 per cent to reach $997 billion, which was 66 per cent of total NATO spending and 37 per cent of world military spending in 2024. A significant portion of the US budget for 2024 was dedicated to modernizing military capabilities and the US nuclear arsenal in order to maintain a strategic advantage over Russia and China. European NATO members spent $454 billion in total, representing 30 per cent of total spending across the alliance.
‘The rapid spending increases among European NATO members were driven mainly by the ongoing Russian threat and concerns about possible US disengagement within the alliance,’ said Jade Guiberteau Ricard, Researcher with the SIPRI Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme. ‘It is worth saying that boosting spending alone will not necessarily translate into significantly greater military capability or independence from the USA. Those are far more complex tasks.’
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