DH NEWS SERVICE
new delhi, May 20
World military expenditure rose by 2.9 per cent to reach USD 2887 billion in 2025, with India spending 3.2 per cent of the global total, according to Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) Military Expenditure 2025 report.
The USA, with a 33 per cent share of total global military expenditure, spent the most in 2025, followed by China and Russia, which accounted for 12 per cent and 6.6 per cent of the global total, respectively. The top three countries — USA, China and Russia — spent a combined total of USD 1480 billion, or 51 per cent of the global total in 2025, marking the 11th consecutive year of growth. Germany accounted for 3.9 per cent of global military expenditure, making the country Europe’s largest defence spender in 2025.
India ranked fifth globally, accounting for 3.2 per cent of the world’s military spending, followed by the United Kingdom (3.1 per cent).
As per the report, global military spending has gone up by 41 per cent over the past decade (2016–25).
However, the year-on-year increase in 2025 was considerably smaller than the 9.7 per cent rise recorded in 2024 and marked the lowest annual rate of growth since 2021.
The world’s military burden — the share of global gross domestic product (GDP) devoted to military expenditure — also went up from 2.4 per cent in 2024 to 2.5 per cent in 2025.
The global average military expenditure as a share of government expenditure was 6.9 per cent in 2025, compared with 7.0 per cent in 2024, and world spending per person stood at USD 352 in 2025.
