Global Military Spending Hits a Record High of $2.44 Trillion: Report

A Chinese military vessel (back R)—some 5 miles away—observing as the Arleigh-Burke class guided missile destroyers USS Sterett (front) and the USS Rafael Peralta (behind) are seen from the deck of the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier as they join a three-day maritime exercise between the United States and Japan in the Philippine Sea on Jan. 31, 2024. Richard A. Brooks/AFP via Getty Images

Countries around the world spent an “all-time high” of $2.44 trillion on their militaries in 2023, according to the latest annual report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

The new figure was a 6.8 percent increase from 2022, the steepest year-on-year increase since 2009, according to the report published on April 22 and written by four researchers at the institute’s Military Expenditure and Arms Production Program.