Global defence spending increased by 9% to a record $2.2tn during 2023 driven by heightened geopolitical tensions caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to an annual assessment by a military thinktank.
Global Defence Spending Rises 9% To Record $2.2tn
Global defence spending increased by 9% to a record $2.2tn during 2023 driven by heightened geopolitical tensions caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to an annual assessment by a military thinktank. The International Institute of Strategic Studies added that it expected budgets to increase further in 2024 as the war continued into a third year and international uncertainty spread across the Middle East in the wake of the Israel-Gaza war.
Ukraine’s defence budget increased nearly nine times to $31.1bn during 2023, a figure that excludes foreign donations, while Russia lifted its military expenditure in 2023 to $108.5bn and has further increases in the pipeline. Moscow’s official defence budget was up by more than 60% in 2024 Giegerich said, meaning that Russian “total military spending now represents one third of its national budget and will now reach 7.5% of GDP, signalling the focus on its war effort”. Overall, The proposed budget for DoD in fiscal year 2024 totals $842 billion., in dollar terms more than the next 15 countries combined, including second-placed China on $219.5bn and Russia, which is third.
Record Over Rs 6.21 Lakh Crore Allocation To MoD
In the current geopolitical scenario and with the twin objective of promoting self reliance and exports, the Defence Budget has touched Rs 6,21,540.85 crore in the Financial Year 2024-25. This comes out to be 13.04% of total Union Budget, which was presented by Finance Minister Smt Nirmala Sitharaman.
Global Firepower Rankings 2024
The United States continues to have the most powerful military in the world, followed by Russia and China, according to the Global Firepower rankings 2024.
•India has the fourth strongest military globally, according to the index which evaluated the strength of 145 countries.
•According to the ranking, Pakistan is at number 9 while Bhutan has the least powerful military in the world.
Notably, South Korea overtook UK and became the fifth most powerful country in the world in terms of military strength.
•GFP also analyzed the defence budgets of the 145 countries.
•US spends the most money on its military with a defence budget of $831 billion. It’s followed by China ($227 billion), Russia ($107 billion) and India ($74 million).
•Among the top five defence spenders, US accounts for 63.3% of the total expenditure share.
