
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, total military spending in 2021 was USD 2.1 trillion, with India ranking third behind the United States and China in terms of military investment.
The top five countries, which included the United Kingdom and Russia, spent 62 percent of the total of 2113 billion dollars, up 0.7 percent from 2020.
“Even with the economic impact of the Covid-19 outbreak, world military spending achieved record levels,” Dr Diego Lopes da Silva, senior researcher with SIPRI’s Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme, Because of inflation, the rate of real-terms growth has slowed. Military spending, on the other hand, increased by 6.1 percent in nominal terms.”
While defence spending contributed approximately 2.3 percent of global GDP in 2020, it dropped to 2.2 percent in 2021. The United States spent USD 801 billion, 1.4 percent less than in 2020. China spent USD 293 billion, which is 4.7 percent more than in 2020. India spent USD 76.6 billion, which was 0.9 percent higher than in 2020 and 33% higher than in 2012. SIPRI estimates that 64 percent of India’s defence budget is “earmarked for acquisitions of domestically produced armaments.”
The fourth-placed country, the United Kingdom, spent USD 68.4 billion, up 3% from 2020. Russia spent USD 65.9 billion, a 2.9 percent increase over the previous year.