{"id":85039,"date":"2015-04-22T14:30:54","date_gmt":"2015-04-22T12:30:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=85039"},"modified":"2015-04-22T13:02:27","modified_gmt":"2015-04-22T11:02:27","slug":"the-worlds-biggest-military-spenders-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/trending\/85039\/the-worlds-biggest-military-spenders-2\/","title":{"rendered":"The world’s biggest military spenders"},"content":{"rendered":"

The latest Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri) military expenditure\u00a0report reveals which countries\u00a0budgeted the most for military spending in 2014.<\/p>\n

According to the report, global military expenditure in 2014 was an estimated $1,776 billion, representing a marginal fall of about 0.4% in real terms compared to 2013.<\/p>\n

Total expenditure was equivalent to 2.3% of global gross domestic product (GDP). This is the third consecutive year that total global military expenditure has decreased.<\/p>\n

However, the falls during the previous two years have been comparatively small.<\/p>\n

The USA remains clearly the world\u2019s largest military spender, with a US$610 billion spend nearly three times the level of second-placed China (US$216 billion).<\/p>\n

The world leader’s military budget is bigger than the next seven countries combined, and accounts for almost 35% of the world total.<\/p>\n

Despite this, the USA’s expenditure dropped by 6.5% in 2014, “largely as a result of budget deficit control measures put in place by the US legislature”, according to Sipri. Further, US military spending is expected to fall again in 2015, but at a slower rate.<\/p>\n

\"Top<\/a>

Top 15 Military spenders<\/p><\/div>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
#<\/strong><\/td>\nCountry<\/strong><\/td>\nMilitary Spend<\/strong><\/td>\n2005-2014 Change<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1<\/td>\nUnited States<\/td>\n$610.0 billion<\/td>\n-0.4%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2<\/td>\nChina<\/td>\n$216.0 billion<\/td>\n167%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3<\/td>\nRussia<\/td>\n$84.5 billion<\/td>\n97%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
4<\/td>\nSaudi Arabia<\/td>\n$80.3 billion<\/td>\n112%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
5<\/td>\nFrance<\/td>\n$62.3 billion<\/td>\n-3.2%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
6<\/td>\nUK<\/td>\n$60.5 billion<\/td>\n-5.5%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
7<\/td>\nIndia<\/td>\n$50.0 billion<\/td>\n39%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
8<\/td>\nGermany<\/td>\n$46.5 billion<\/td>\n-0.8%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
9<\/td>\nJapan<\/td>\n$45.8 billion<\/td>\n-3.7%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
10<\/td>\nSouth Korea<\/td>\n$36.7 billion<\/td>\n34%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
11<\/td>\nBrazil<\/td>\n$31.7 billion<\/td>\n41%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
12<\/td>\nItaly<\/td>\n$30.9 billion<\/td>\n-27%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
13<\/td>\nAustralia<\/td>\n$25.4 billion<\/td>\n27%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
14<\/td>\nUAE<\/td>\n$22.8 billion<\/td>\n135%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
15<\/td>\nTurkey<\/td>\n$22.6 billion<\/td>\n15%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nTop 15<\/strong><\/td>\n$1,427 billion<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nWorld Total<\/strong><\/td>\n$1,776 billion<\/strong><\/td>\n21%<\/span><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n

While South Africa is not specifically mentioned by the 2014 report, the country forms part of the Sub-Saharan Africa region, which spent an estimated US$30.1 billion in 2014 – up 4.8% from 2013.<\/p>\n

According to Sipri, military spending in the region had increased over 66% since 2005.<\/p>\n

Africa as a whole saw the largest year-on-year increase in military expenditure of any region in the world, at 5.9%, reaching $50.2 billion in 2014.<\/p>\n

Military spending in the region has almost doubled (increasing by 91%) since 2005.<\/p>\n

\n

Military Expenditure<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sipri military expenditure data includes all current and capital expenditure on:<\/p>\n