GNV News 2025.9.14

According to a United Nations report, global military expenditure has increased for the 10th consecutive year, reaching a total of 2.7 trillion US dollars in 2024. This is a year-on-year increase of more than 9%, the largest rate of growth since the end of the Cold War. It is also said that there is currently an annual funding shortfall of about 4 trillion US dollars for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs), while the world’s total military spending amounts to roughly 60% of this financing gap. In response, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said that “the world is spending far more money on waging war than on building peace,” expressing concern over the rapid surge in global military expenditure.

2.7 trillion US dollars is equivalent to the GDP of the entire African continent, about 17 times the total global spending on COVID-19 vaccines, about 13 times the amount of official development assistance provided by members of the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) in 2024, and roughly 750 times the UN budget for 2024, according to the report.

The increase in military spending is particularly notable in Europe and the Middle East. From 2022 to 2024, the share of GDP devoted to military expenditure is said to have increased from 2.3% to 2.9% in Europe, and from 3.6% to 4.0% in the Middle East. Looking at spending by country, the United States ranks 1st with 37% of the total, followed by China in 2nd with 12%, and Russia in 3rd with 5.5%. Germany is 4th with 3.3%, and India 5th with 3.2%. These 5 countries alone account for nearly 60% of global military expenditure.

Among the factors behind the increase in military spending are the intensification of great-power military competition and the spread of organized crime and terrorism. Some also point out that claims of rising threats are prompting governments to prioritize military policy, which in turn benefits the arms industry.

Learn more about the arms trade→“Arms trade: The dark intersection of politics and business”

Learn more about the arms industry→“Military–industrial complex: The vast power not visible in news coverage”

United States, F-35 fighter jet manufacturing plant (Photo: DoD Inspector General / Flickr [CC BY-NC 2.0])