Recent Study Reveals: United States and India Among the Top Five Nations in Military Expenditure

April 24 :
An analysis by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) indicated that in 2023, the United States remained the leading military spender worldwide, with India solidifying its position as the fourth-largest donor. Rising 4.2% from the prior year, India's defence budget came to $83.6 billion. The US, meanwhile, spends 916 billion USD, or 37% of all military spending. Asia-Pacific ranked second, with an estimated $296 billion.

As tensions have been rising, particularly near the Chinese border since the Ladakh standoff in May 2020, India has stepped up its efforts to strengthen its defensive capabilities. Defence modernization is a top priority for the country, and it is shown in its aggressive stance towards regional security threats, which includes fighter jets and unmanned capabilities.

It should be noted that India's defence budget for 2024-25 shows a marked improvement from the budget forecasts for 2023-24, albeit with a little reduced allocation compared to the prior year's revised estimates.

New statistics show that the United States' arms exports increased dramatically, rising 17% from 2014–18 to 2019–23, further establishing the country as the leading exporter globally. Between 2019 and 2023, the United States supplied more large armaments to 107 nations than its next rivals did together.

Military spending reached a new high of $2.43 trillion in 2023, up 7 percent from the previous year, marking the biggest annual growth since 2009, according to SIPRI, while global peace was shattered. As tensions rose between the government and non-state armed groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, military spending by the country surged by 105 percent in 2023, the highest rise among all countries.

Worldwide, Stockholm serves as the home of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). It has been around since 1966 and provides information on disarmament, guns control, military spending, the weapons trade, and armed conflicts.