SIPRI: Russia Returned to the Top Five Defense Spending Leaders

Russia returned to the top five countries that spend the most on defense. In 2019, Moscow allocated more than $ 65 billion to military expenses and that is 4.5 percent more than a year earlier. So stated the Stockholm Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) report. Compared to last year’s rating, Russia rose from sixth to fourth place. In addition to increasing its own expenses this was also facilitated by a 16 percent reduction in Saudi Arabia's expenses, which shifted from third to fifth place. In general, the countries from the first five - the USA, China, India, Russia and Saudi Arabia account for 62 percent of the total military expenditures in the world. The United States spends the most on defense - $ 732 billion (38 percent of global spending). China, whose military budget has reached 261 billion dollars holds second place. At the same time, over the past ten years, China's growth in military spending amounted to 85 percent. India  holds the third place in spending on weapons with its 71 billion dollars. In Western Europe, Germany showed the most significant increase in military spending raising its defense budget by 10 percent over the past year. According to the Stockholm Peace Research Institute, global military spending in 2019 amounted to $ 1.9 trillion. These are the highest figures since the 2008 financial crisis. However, according to the report authors, the coronavirus pandemic will make adjustments to defense spending: many countries will review budgets for next year and are likely to spend more on health and education than defense. But this will not last long, experts say, and then military spending will begin to rise again.