World military expenditure is estimated to have been $1822 billion in 2018. It was 2.6 per cent higher in real terms than in 2017 and 5.4 per cent higher than in 2009. Global military spending has been gradually rising following a post-2009 low in 2014. It is now 76 per cent higher than the post-cold war low in 1998.
The volume of international transfers of major arms in 2014–18 was 7.8 per cent higher than in 2009–13 and 23 per cent higher than in 2004–2008. The five largest exporters in 2014–18 were the United States, Russia, France, Germany and China. The five largest importers were Saudi Arabia, India, Egypt, Australia and Algeria.
The flow of arms to the Middle East increased by 87 per cent between 2009–13 and 2014–18, while there was a decrease in flows to all other regions.
Arms sales of the world’s 100 largest arms-producing and military services companies (the SIPRI Top 100) totalled $398.2 billion in 2017. This was an increase of 2.5 per cent compared with 2016 and marks the third consecutive year of growth in Top 100 arms sales.
This Fact Sheet lists the SIPRI Top 100 for 2017 from the updated SIPRI Arms Industry Database and describes the trends in international arms sales that are revealed by the new data.
World military expenditure is estimated to have reached $1739 billion in 2017, the highest level since the end of the cold war. After 13 consecutive years of increases from 1999 to 2011 and relatively unchanged spending from 2012 to 2016, total global expenditure rose marginally in 2017, by 1.1 per cent in real terms. This Fact Sheet highlights the regional and national trends in 2017 and over the decade 2008–17 shown by new data from the SIPRI Military Expenditure Database.
The volume of international transfers of major weapons in 2013–17 was 10 per cent higher than in 2008–12. This is a continuation of the upward trend that began in the early 2000s. The flow of arms to the Middle East and Asia and Oceania increased between 2008–12 and 2013–17, while there was a decrease in the flow to the Americas, Africa and Europe.
Climate change poses a new class of security challenges that is confronting societies worldwide. Increased risk of famine, destroyed infrastructure, houses and shelter, and violent conflicts might all be consequences of climate change through gradual changes to ecosystems and extreme weather events. As a way to mitigate these challenges, states have delegated increased power to intergovernmental organizations (IGOs).
This Fact Sheet lists the SIPRI Top 100 for 2016 from the updated SIPRI Arms Industry Database and describes the trends in international arms sales that are revealed by the new data.
This Fact Sheet estimates the nuclear weapon inventory of the nine nuclear-weapon possessing states and highlights some key aspects of the states’ recent nuclear-force developments.
World military expenditure is estimated to have been $1686 billion in 2016, equivalent to 2.2 per cent of the global gross domestic product (GDP) or $227 per person. The 2016 estimate is a marginal increase of about 0.4 per cent in real terms on 2015. After 13 consecutive years of increases (from 1998 to 2011), world military spending has continued to plateau—with only minor decreases between 2011 and 2014 (an average of 0.7 per cent per annum) and slight increases in 2015 and 2016.
The volume of international transfers of major weapons in 2012–16 was 8.4 per cent higher than in 2007–11. This was the highest volume for any five-year period since 1990. The flow of arms to Asia and Oceania and the Middle East increased between 2007–11 and 2012–16, while there was a decrease in the flow to Europe, the Americas and Africa.