NATO military forces are seen during the Steadfast Dart 2025 exercises at the Smardan Training Area, in Smardan, Romania, Feb. 19, 2025. DANIEL MIHAILESCU/AFP/Getty

Global military expenditure rose by 9.4% in 2024 to $2.7 trillion, the steepest yearly rise since the end of the Cold War, according to data compiled by the global security think tank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Spending in Europe, including Russia, was a big factor behind the global surge in spending, SIPRI said.

European nations' collective spending increased by 17% to $693 billion amid the ongoing war in Ukraine, the organization's data show.

Russia's government increased its military spending by 38% to an estimated $149 billion last year, while Ukraine's grew by 2.9% to $64.7 billion. The Ukrainian spending amounted to 34% of the country's GDP, the largest military expenditure by percentage of GDP of any nation last year, according to SIPRI.

"Russia once again significantly increased its military spending, widening the spending gap with Ukraine," said Diego Lopes da Silva, a senior researcher at SIPRI. "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."

All NATO member nations increased their military spending, too, with 18 countries spending at least 2% of their GDP during 2024, which SIPRI said was the highest number of NATO members to hit that threshold since the alliance adopted it as a spending guideline in 2014.

"The rapid spending increases among European NATO members were driven mainly by the ongoing Russian threat and concerns about possible U.S. disengagement within the alliance," said Jade Guiberteau Ricard, another SIPRI researcher. "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."

In the Middle East, Israel and Lebanon significantly increased their military spending. Israel boosted its defense investment by 65% to $46.5 billion, while Lebanon increased its own by 58%, to $635 million.

"Despite widespread expectations that many Middle Eastern countries would increase their military spending in 2024, major rises were limited to Israel and Lebanon," said SIPRI researcher Zubaida Karim. "Elsewhere [in the region], countries either did not significantly increase spending in response to the war in Gaza or were prevented from doing so by economic constraints."

SIPRI said Iran's military expenditure fell in real terms by 10% to $7.9 billion, despite its involvement in regional conflicts.

U.S. military spending grew by 5.7% to $997 billion, amounting to 66% of NATO spending in 2024 and 37% of global military spending.

China was the world's second largest military spender last year behind the U.S., accounting for half of all military spending in Asia and Oceania, SIPRI said. China increased its spending by 7% to $314 billion.

"Major military spenders in the Asia-Pacific region are investing increasing resources into advanced military capabilities," said Nan Tian, the director of the SIPRI Military Expenditure and Arms Production Program. 'With several unresolved disputes and mounting tensions, these investments risk sending the region into a dangerous arms-race spiral."

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