The military spending of all nations combined set a new record in 2021, exceeding the $2 trillion mark for the first time ever, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) revealed in a report published on Monday.
Governments spent a total of $2.113 trillion on weapons last year. The top spenders were the US, China, India, the UK, and Russia, accounting for 62% of the total sum.
According to the researchers, 2021 was the seventh consecutive year in which global military expenditures had grown, despite the strains placed on economies by the Covid-19 pandemic.
While US defense spending slid by 1.4% compared to 2020, Washington remained the absolute global leader, having lavished some $801 billion last year. The SIPRI report also points out that US funding for military research and development – while having dropped by 1.2% last year – still rose by 24% between 2012 and 2021. That suggests that the US is “focusing more on next-generation technologies,” according to Alexandra Marksteiner, a researcher with the SIPRI’s Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme. “The US Government has repeatedly stressed the need to preserve the US military’s technological edge over strategic competitors,” she said in a statement.