Global defence spending rose to $1.57 trillion in 2018 according to the report, kicking off what is forecast to be a decade of stronger global defence expenditure.
“Defence spending returned to a healthy rate of growth in 2018,” said Fenella McGerty, principal analyst for IHS Jane’s. “As a result, defence spending should recover to pre-financial crisis levels by 2018”.
According to the report, the United States is still king with its expenditure representing about 40% of the total Global Defence budget. “Since 9/11, over $9.35 trillion has been allocated to the US defence budget, with the Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) accounting for $1.62 trillion or 17.3% of the total US Department of Defense budget,” said Guy Eastman, senior analyst, IHS Jane’s.
“After 9/11 a buildup took place through 2010 to support operations in the Middle East and elsewhere, followed by decreasing OCO budgets and troop reductions, bringing the US Department of Defense (DoD) budget to the 2018 value of $622 billion,” said Eastman.
The report noted that China’s defence budget is expected to almost double within 10 years, from $123 billion in 2010 to $233 billion in 2020, while NATO’s defence budget also increased for the first time since 2010 following challenges posed by the Islamic State and Russia.
India overtook Saudi Arabia and Russia to become one of the top five defence spenders globally. This combined with the weak pound could see India overtake the UK by 2018, the report said.
Below are Top 20 defence budgets for 2015 and 2016:
| Country | 2015 | Country | 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | $616bn | United States | $622bn |
| China | $181bn | China | $191.8bn |
| United Kingdom | $53.5bn | United Kingdom | $53.8bn |
| Russian Federation | $51.8bn | India | $50.7bn |
| Saudi Arabia | $50.5bn | Saudi Arabia | $48.7bn |
| India | $46.7bn | Russian Federation | $48.5bn |
| France | $44.2bn | France | $44.4bn |
| Japan | $42.2bn | Japan | $41.7bn |
| Germany | $36bn | Germany | $35.8bn |
| South Korea | $32.3bn | South Korea | $33.5bn |
| Australia | $27,445 | Australia | $26.8bn |
| Brazil | $24,439 | Italy | $23bn |
| Italy | $22,986 | Brazil | $23bn |
| UAE | $18.6bn | UAE | $19bn |
| Canada | $14.7bn | Canada | $14bn |
| Taiwan | $13.7bn | Israel | $13.8bn |
| Israel | $13.3bn | Taiwan | $13.8bn |
| Turkey | $12.1bn | Turkey | $12.7bn |
| Spain | $11bn | Spain | $11bn |
| Iraq | $10.7bn | Algeria | $10.5bn |
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