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2404 Fs Milex 2023
2404 Fs Milex 2023
April 2024
Sources: SIPRI Military Expenditure Database, Apr. 2024; International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database, Oct.
2023; and International Monetary Fund, International Financial Statistics Database, Sep. 2023.
trends in military expenditure, 2023 3
aligns with its decision to shift Italy (1.5%) United States (37%)
of which $25.4 billion was in the form of military aid—the largest amount
of military aid given to Ukraine by any country that year. The remaining
$10.3 billion in Ukraine-related allocations included funds to support
European allies and US command operations in Europe and to boost US
munitions production capacity to replenish stocks sent to Ukraine and meet
Ukraine’s ammunition needs.
China, the world’s second largest military spender, allocated an estimated
$296 billion to the military in 2023, an increase of 6.0 per cent from 2022.
China’s military expenditure accounted for 12 per cent of global spending
and 50 per cent of spending in Asia and Oceania. Aside from being the biggest
spender in Asia and Oceania, China is the main driver of spending trends
elsewhere in the region since many of its neighbours perceive China’s grow
ing military power as a reason to enhance their own military capabilities.
China’s military expenditure has risen consecutively for 29 years, the
longest unbroken streak recorded by any country in the SIPRI Military
Expenditure Database. However, the rate of military spending growth has
slowed over the past 10 years: China recorded an increase of 60 per cent in
2014–23 compared with increases of just under 150 per cent in 2004–13 and
1994–2003. This also reflects the slower rate of Chinese economic growth
during the past decade. China recorded single-digit growth in its military
spending for the 11th consecutive year in 2023, which was largely in line with
its annual GDP growth over the same period.
At an estimated $109 billion, Russian military expenditure in 2023 was
24 per cent higher than in 2022 and 57 per cent higher than in 2014, when
Russia annexed Crimea. In 2023 Russia’s military spending was equivalent to
5.9 per cent of GDP and 16 per cent of total government expenditure, which
were the highest levels recorded by Russia since the dissolution of the Soviet
Union. Figures for Russia’s military expenditure in 2023 are highly uncertain
due to the increasing opaqueness of Russian financial authorities since the
full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. In addition to the state budget, funding
to support the invasion has come from off-budget revenue streams such as
businesses, individuals and organizations. While these contributions are
probably modest compared with the official budget, the lack of information
about them means that SIPRI’s military expenditure figures for Russia are
underestimates.
The increase in Russian military expenditure in 2023 was largely facilitated
by Russia’s economic performance, which surpassed expectations despite a
significant fall in the country’s oil and gas revenue. Russia has relied on its
sovereign wealth fund and state loans to finance its expanding budget deficit,
which has allowed it to limit the impact of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine
on its economy.
In its draft budget for 2023, published in September 2022, Russia increased
the amount allocated to ‘national security and public order’ by 50 per cent
compared with 2022. This suggests that Russia expected the war in Ukraine
to have wound down significantly during 2023 with a subsequent transition
towards control of annexed territory. In a possible reassessment of the state
of the full-scale invasion, in December 2022 Russia issued a revised 2023
budget that increased funding to ‘national security and public order’ by only
21 per cent compared with 2022. Based on the draft state budget for the years
trends in military expenditure, 2023 5
REGIONAL TRENDS
Countries in the Americas accounted for 41 per cent of the world’s military
spending in 2023 (see table 2), followed by countries in Asia and Oceania
(24 per cent), Europe (24 per cent), the Middle East (8.2 per cent) and Africa
(2.1 per cent).
Africa
( ) = uncertain estimate.
a Figures exclude Djibouti, Eritrea and Somalia.
b Figures exclude Cuba.
c Figures exclude Laos, North Korea, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
d Figures exclude Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
e Figures exclude North Korea.
f Figures exclude Laos.
g Figures exclude Syria and Yemen.
Nigeria’s military spending was $3.2 billion in 2023. This included a sup
plementary budget that boosted the regular military budget by an additional
34 per cent. The latest increase in Nigerian military spending comes against
the backdrop of numerous ongoing security challenges.
In 2023 the DRC recorded the biggest percentage increase in military
spending in the world. Its spending more than doubled (+105 per cent) to
reach $794 million. The 2023 increase coincided with growing tensions with
Rwanda, a surge in clashes with non-state armed groups, and a move by the
government to strengthen the DRC’s armed forces after it demanded the
early withdrawal of a large-scale United Nations peacekeeping mission in the
country.
South Sudan recorded the second highest percentage increase in military
spending globally in 2023. Its spending rose by 78 per cent to reach $1.1 billion.
This followed a 108 per cent increase in 2022. The growth in spending can
be attributed to escalating internal violence and the security challenges that
have spilled over from the civil war in neighbouring Sudan.
trends in military expenditure, 2023 7
The Americas
tary burden in 2023 was 1.1 per Central and Western Europe 10
cent of GDP. Eastern Europe 31
Middle East 9.0
Asia and Oceania –10 –5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Change in military expenditure (%)
Total military spending in Asia
and Oceania in 2023 amounted Figure 3. Changes in military expenditure, by subregion, 2022–23
to $595 billion, up by 4.4 per cent Source: SIPRI Military Expenditure Database, Apr. 2024.
8 sipri fact sheet
Box 1. NATO and the push for further increases in military expenditure
In 2023 the combined military spending of the 31 North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) members reached $1341 billion—up
by 5.2 per cent from 2022 and by 19 per cent from 2014.a Total NATO military expenditure accounted for 55 per cent of world
military spending in 2023. The increase over the decade 2014–23 was due partly to new members joining NATO (Montenegro in
2017, North Macedonia in 2020 and Finland in 2023) and partly to a general upward trend in military spending.
All but three NATO members increased their military expenditure in 2023. Spending fell in Greece (–17 per cent), Italy (–5.9 per
cent) and Romania (–4.7 per cent). European NATO members together accounted for 28 per cent of total NATO spending in 2023,
which was the highest level recorded in the decade 2014–23.
In 2014 NATO members committed to spending 2 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) on the military by 2024. In 2023
they revised this target to ‘at least’ 2 per cent of GDP. Eleven of the 31 NATO members met or exceeded the 2 per cent target in
2023, which was 4 more than in 2022 and the highest number since the spending commitment was introduced. NATO members’
average military burden stood at 1.9 per cent of GDP in 2023. Only 3 of the 31 NATO members did not increase their military burden
between 2014 and 2023: Türkiye (–0.4 percentage points), the United States (–0.3) and Croatia (–0.04).
In 2014 NATO members also agreed that, by 2024, they would allocate 20 per cent or more of their total annual military spending to
procuring major equipment. A total of 28 NATO members met the target in 2023, up from 7 in 2014. Between 2014 and 2023, NATO
members’ average share of military spending dedicated to major equipment more than doubled, to reach 28 per cent.
a Sweden’s application to join NATO was not formally ratified until March 2024. Its military expenditure is therefore excluded
from 2022 and by 46 per cent from 2014. This continued an uninterrupted
upward trend dating back to at least 1989. The regional increase was primar
ily driven by China and its neighbours: military spending rose in all countries
in East Asia as well as in India.
Military expenditure in East Asia grew by 6.2 per cent in 2023, to reach
$411 billion. Japan allocated $50.2 billion to its military in 2023, which was
11 per cent more than in 2022 and 31 per cent more than in 2014. The year-on
year increase in 2023 was the largest since 1972. The budget for 2023 also
marked the first year of Japan’s biggest military build-up programme since
the end of World War II. Under the programme, Japan aims to bolster its
counterstrike capabilities by investing heavily in aircraft, ships and long-
range missiles. It plans to spend $310 billion on the military in 2023–27, which
would give it an average annual military budget of $62 billion over the period.
South Korea’s military expenditure went up by 1.1 per cent in 2023, to
$47.9 billion. In 2023 the South Korean Ministry of National Defense unveiled
a new spending plan to allocate around $253 billion to the military between
2023 and 2027, at an average of just over $50 billion per year.
Taiwan’s military expenditure grew by 11 per cent in 2023, to $16.6 billion.
Based on a perceived growing threat from China, Taiwan created an extra-
budgetary fund in 2020 and another in 2022 earmarked for procuring
F-16 combat aircraft and naval systems. Together, these funds accounted for
21 per cent of Taiwan’s total military spending in 2023.
Europe
Military spending in Europe totalled $588 billion in 2023, which was 16 per
cent more than in 2022 and 62 per cent more than in 2014. The ongoing war
between Russia and Ukraine has led to substantial increases in military
spending by both countries and spurred a widespread surge in military
expenditure across Europe.
trends in military expenditure, 2023 9
1. Ukraine
37%
3. Algeria
8.2% 9. Israel
5.3%
8. Oman
10
5.4%
2. Lebanon
8.9%
10. Jordan
4.9%
5. South Sudan 4. Saudi Arabia
6.3% 7.1%
sipri fact sheet
9.0%>
5.0%–9.0%
4.0%–5.0%
3.0%–4.0%
2.0%–3.0%
1.0%–2.0%
<1.0%
No military spending
No data
Military expenditure in the Middle East rose by 9.0 per cent to an estimated
$200 billion in 2023. This was the biggest annual increase in the decade
2014–23. Spending went up in the three largest military spenders in the
region: Saudi Arabia, Israel and Türkiye.
Israel’s military spending grew by 24 per cent to reach $27.5 billion in 2023.
The spending increase was mainly driven by Israel’s large-scale offensive in
Gaza in response to the attack on southern Israel by Hamas in October 2023.
Israel’s monthly military expenditure has risen substantially since the start
of the war in Gaza: it went up from an average of $1.8 billion per month before
October to $4.7 billion in December 2023.
Iran was the fourth largest military spender in the Middle East in 2023.
Its spending went up marginally (+0.6 per cent) to $10.3 billion. According
to available data, the share of total military spending allocated to the Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has been increasing since at least 2019.
Spending on the IRGC rose from 27 per cent of Iran’s total military expend
iture in 2019 to 37 per cent in 2023. In addition, spending linked to the
procurement of aircraft from Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industrial Corpor
ation (HESA) increased by 27 per cent over the same period. Among other
things, HESA produces uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) used by the IRGC.
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