Thursday, August 11, 2022
  • About us
    • Write for us
    • Disclaimer
    • Terms of use
    • Privacy Policy
  • RSS Feeds
  • Advertise with us
  • Contact us
DefenceTalk
  • Home
  • Defense News
    • Defense & Geopolitics News
    • War Conflicts News
    • Army News
    • Air Force News
    • Navy News
    • Missiles Systems News
    • Nuclear Weapons
    • Defense Technology
    • Cybersecurity News
  • Military Photos
  • Defense Forum
  • Military Videos
  • Military Weapon Systems
    • Weapon Systems
    • Reports
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Defense News
    • Defense & Geopolitics News
    • War Conflicts News
    • Army News
    • Air Force News
    • Navy News
    • Missiles Systems News
    • Nuclear Weapons
    • Defense Technology
    • Cybersecurity News
  • Military Photos
  • Defense Forum
  • Military Videos
  • Military Weapon Systems
    • Weapon Systems
    • Reports
No Result
View All Result
DefenceTalk
No Result
View All Result

Global military spending soars despite crisis: report

by Agence France-Presse
June 2, 2010
in Defense Geopolitics News
2 min read
0
14
VIEWS

Stockholm: Global military expenditures soared to a record high last year, unscathed by the economic downturn, with the United States accounting for more than half of increase, a think tank said Wednesday.

In 2009, 1,531 billion dollars (1,244 billion euros) were spent worldwide in the military sector, a 5.9 percent rise from 2008 and a 49 percent jump from 2000, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said in its report.

“Many countries were increasing public spending generally in 2009, as a way of boosting demand to combat the recession,” explained Sam Perlo-Freeman, the head of SIPRI’s military expenditure project.

“Although military spending wasn’t usually a major part of the economic stimulus packages, it wasn’t cut either,” he said in a statement.

The institute said 65 percent of countries for which data was available had hiked their military spending last year.

The United States remains by far the top military spender, dishing out 661 billion dollars to the industry in 2009, or a whopping 43 percent of the total global military expenditure.

Washington thus paid 47 billion dollars more than a year earlier and accounted for 54 percent of the global increase, SIPRI said.

China is believed to be the world’s second largest military spender, the institute said, adding that while it did not have access to the official figures from Beijing it estimated the country had spent around 100 billion dollars in the sector last year.

With its 63.9 billion dollars in military expenditures last year, France came in third place, SIPRI said.

“The figures also demonstrate that for major or intermediate powers such as the US, China, Russia, India and Brazil, military spending represents a long-term strategic choice which they are willing to make even in hard economic times,” Perlo-Freeman said.

A portion of the 2009 military spending hike can be attributed to a sharp increase in so-called peacekeeping operations, especially in Afghanistan, which also reached record levels last year.

In all, 54 peacekeeping missions took place around the globe in 2009, costing a record total of 9.1 billion dollars, SIPRI said.

In terms of deployed personnel, last year was also record-breaking, the institute said: 219,278 people, 89 percent of whom were military personnel, were deployed, up 16 percent from 2008.

“The increase was due to troop reinforcement for existing peace operations, most significantly for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan,” the report said.

The United States last year “more than doubled its troop levels in Afghanistan and annual US spending in Afghanistan now exceeds that in Iraq,” SIPRI said, pointing out that 65 billion dollars had been proposed for Afghanistan operations in the 2010 budget request, while 61 billion had been set aside for Iraq.

Most of the military spending in Afghanistan had gone towards “counter-terrorism, counter-narcotics and the strengthening of the Afghan security forces,” the institute said.

The institute however voiced some optimism that the military operations in Afghanistan could soon end, pointing out that “the international community is clearly weary of the struggle.”

“Two NATO members have already unilaterally decided to pull out (and) there is a tangible and growing sense of ‘end game’ in and around Afghanistan that is likely to intensify over the next 12 months,” it said.

Wednesday’s SIPRI report also estimated that there were around 8,100 operational nuclear warheads in the arsenals of the world’s eight nuclear-armed states: the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France, India, Pakistan and Israel.

“Of these, almost 2,000 were kept on high alert and capable of being launched in minutes,” the report said.

Tags: budgetglobal militarymilitary spending
Previous Post

Air Force security transfers authority to Army

Next Post

Offices searched in French arms sale to Malaysia: source

Related Posts

West eyes more pressure on Russia after Ukraine nuclear plant attack

13 killed in Russian strikes near nuclear plant

August 10, 2022

Ukraine on Wednesday accused Russia of rocket strikes that killed 13 civilians in areas near a Russian-held power plant, where...

China will ‘take the gloves off’ over Taiwan: media

Taiwan FM says China using drills to ‘prepare for invasion’

August 10, 2022

Taiwan's foreign minister said Tuesday that Beijing is using air and sea drills encircling the island to prepare for an...

Next Post

Offices searched in French arms sale to Malaysia: source

Latest Defense News

Philippines cancels Russia helicopter deal over US sanctions

Philippines cancels Russia helicopter deal over US sanctions

August 10, 2022
West eyes more pressure on Russia after Ukraine nuclear plant attack

13 killed in Russian strikes near nuclear plant

August 10, 2022
Iran to hold new wargames in key oil waterway

Iran navy says repelled attack on ship in Red Sea

August 10, 2022
China will ‘take the gloves off’ over Taiwan: media

Taiwan FM says China using drills to ‘prepare for invasion’

August 10, 2022
US moves closer to retaliation over hacking as cyber woes grow

Finnish parliament website targeted in cyber attack

August 10, 2022
People displaced by the fighting in Burma's Laukai approach a rescue convoy

Mounting proof of crimes against humanity in Myanmar: UN probe

August 10, 2022

Defense Forum Discussions

  • Fantasy RAN thread (Carriers only)
  • Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) News and Discussions
  • The Russian-Ukrainian War Thread
  • Royal Australian Air Force [RAAF] News, Discussions and Updates
  • Australian Army Discussions and Updates
  • Indonesia: 'green water navy'
  • Indonesian Aero News
  • The German Bundeswehr - a "Paper Tiger?"
  • Royal New Zealand Air Force
  • Royal Australian Navy Discussions and Updates 2.0
DefenceTalk

© 2003-2020 DefenceTalk.com

Navigate Site

  • Defence Forum
  • Military Photos
  • RSS Feeds
  • About us
  • Advertise with us
  • Contact us

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Defense News
    • Defense & Geopolitics News
    • War Conflicts News
    • Army News
    • Air Force News
    • Navy News
    • Missiles Systems News
    • Nuclear Weapons
    • Defense Technology
    • Cybersecurity News
  • Military Photos
  • Defense Forum
  • Military Videos
  • Military Weapon Systems
    • Weapon Systems
    • Reports

© 2003-2020 DefenceTalk.com