The latest report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri) has delivered its verdict this Monday. The world has spent nearly $2.9 trillion on military expenses in 2025, marking an eleventh consecutive year of growth amidst multiple conflicts.
The increase reached 2.9% in one year, despite a decline in American military spending. In total, the three main contributors – the United States, China, and Russia – accounted for over half of the total, at $1.48 trillion.
“A new year marked by wars” – the “military burden” – or the share of the world’s GDP dedicated to military spending – is the highest since 2009. “Everything indicates that the world feels less secure and is spending more on its armed forces to deal with the global context,” notes Sipri researcher Lorenzo Scarazzato.
The United States spent $954 billion, a 7.5% decrease from 2024, mainly due to the lack of new military aid to Ukraine. However, this decrease is expected to be short-lived, as the U.S. Congress has approved over $1 trillion for 2026, and it could reach $1.5 trillion in 2027 if Donald Trump’s budget proposal is adopted.
This decline was largely offset by increases in Europe and Asia during a year marked by wars and escalating tensions, explains Lorenzo Scarazzato.
The primary driver of this global increase came from Europe, including Russia and Ukraine, which saw a 14% rise in spending to $864 billion. Germany, the fourth-largest spender worldwide, increased its spending by 24% in 2025 to $114 billion.
Spain also significantly increased its spending by 50% to $40.2 billion, exceeding 2% of the GDP for the first time since 1994. Russia’s spending increased by 5.9% to $190 billion, representing 7.5% of the GDP. Ukraine also raised its spending by 20% to $84.1 billion, accounting for 40% of the GDP.
Despite ongoing tensions in the Middle East, spending only marginally increased by 0.1% in the region, reaching $218 billion. Most countries in the region increased their spending, while Israel and Iran actually reduced theirs.
In Iran, spending decreased by 5.6% to $7.4 billion, largely due to high annual inflation of 42%.
The rise mostly came from Asia, with the Asia-Pacific region totaling $681 billion in spending, an 8.5% increase from 2024 – the largest annual increase since 2009.
China, the main player in the region, escalated its spending every year over the past three decades and spent approximately $336 billion in 2025. Other states like South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan also reacted to the perceived threat, increasing their expenses accordingly.
Japan increased its military spending by 9.7% to $62.2 billion in 2025, reaching 1.4% of the GDP – the highest percentage since 1958. Taiwan also raised its spending by 14% to $18.2 billion.
