Global Weapons Spending Reaches Record Level

Worldwide spending on weapons has hit record levels, reaching over $1 trillion Dollars in 2008.

Global spending on arms and forces rose by 45% in the last decade to $1.46tn, according to the latest annual Yearbook on Armaments.

The US accounts for more than half the total increase, but China and Russia nearly tripled their military expenditure over the decade. China are now second only to the US in military expenditure. China had both the largest absolute and the largest relative increase,” says the Sipri report. The increase “has roughly paralleled its economic growth and is also linked to its major power aspirations” according to the report. Other regions including India, Brazil and Algeria, also substantially increased their spending on arms. 

Despite increasing its military expenditure by 3% in real terms in 2008 and by 21% since 1999, Britain faces a significant military budget shortfall. Sipri says this is due partly to the UK’s involvement in two conflicts, in Afghanistan and Iraq, which are projected to have cost a total of £12bn ($18bn). It is also partly due to commitments to numerous large weapons procurement projects that cannot be funded under current budget plans. To close the budget shortfall, the MoD decided last year to reduce or postpone, but not cancel, large projects including plans to build two aircraft carriers, and high tech armoured cars for the army.

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