India, China among top 3 military spenders

New Delhi, April 26

Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, the military spending across the world rose to $1,981 billion in 2020, registering an increase of 2.6 per cent as compared with figures for 2019.

The five biggest spenders in 2020, which together accounted for 62 per cent of the global military expenditure, were the United States, China, India, Russia and the United Kingdom, according to the data published on Monday by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

The US military expenditure reached an estimated $778 billion, representing an increase of 4.4 per cent over 2019, while the spending by China grew for the 26th consecutive year, says the report titled “trends in world military expenditure, 2020”.

At $72.9 billion, India’s military spending in 2020 was 2.1 per cent higher than that during 2019. The increase can be largely attributed to India’s ongoing conflict with Pakistan and renewed border tension with China.

“We can say with some certainty that the pandemic did not have a significant impact on global military spending in 2020,” the report said. — TNS