Racing Bar: SIPRI Military Spending

Europe and Asia drive most recent global rise in military spending

Global military spending kept climbing in 2025, marking the 11th consecutive annual increase. According to SIPRI, worldwide expenditure reached $2.887 trillion, up 2.9 percent in real terms from the previous year, even as U.S. spending edged down slightly.

As the Statista racing bar video shows, the United States remained by far the world’s largest military spender throughout the period; it was also the only country to exceed $1 trillion in annual military expenditure in this dataset, a reflection of the country’s unmatched global force projection, alliance commitments and defense industry scale. In 2025 alone, the U.S. accounted for roughly 31 percent of worldwide military spending. China steadily expanded its budget and firmly established itself in second place. In recent years, Russia has also moved sharply upward, while countries such as India and Germany have significantly increased their spending.

The long-term shift in the ranking is striking. After the Cold War, several Western countries reduced or stabilized military expenditure, but over time, Asian countries gained ground. China stands out most clearly, but India, Japan and South Korea have also recorded sustained increases over the past decades.

Recent years, however, have been shaped above all by war, geopolitical tension and growing security concerns. SIPRI reports that military spending in Europe rose by 14 percent in 2025, while expenditure in Asia and Oceania increased by 8.1 percent. Excluding the United States, global military spending was up 9.2 percent, underlining how broad-based the current rearmament trend has become.

Видео Racing Bar: SIPRI Military Spending канала Statista