A report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute shows that amid high inflation, U.S. defense spending hit $877 billion in 2022, accounting for 39 percent of total military expenditure worldwide and reflecting a 0.7 percent real terms increase in spending.
SIPRI said Monday the U.S. earmarked $295 billion to military operations and maintenance, $167 billion to service personnel and $264 billion to procurement and research and development efforts, making it the world’s largest military spender.
“The increase in the USA’s military spending in 2022 was largely accounted for by the unprecedented level of financial military aid it provided to Ukraine,” said Nan Tian, a SIPRI senior researcher.
In 2022, the financial aid given by the U.S. to the Ukrainian military reached nearly $20 billion.
Military spending worldwide reached a record high of $2.24 trillion in 2022, reflecting a real-terms increase of 3.7 percent.
China and Russia were the world’s second and third-largest military spenders in 2022, allocating approximately $292 billion and $86.4 billion, respectively.
Central and Western European countries recorded $345 billion in military spending, while countries in Asia and Oceania logged $575 billion in combined military expenditures last year.
