NEW DELHI: India was the fifth biggest military spender in the world in 2025 and the country increased its military spending by 8.9% to $92.1 billion, according to a report released by arms watchdog group SIPRI on Monday.The India-Pakistan conflict in May 2025 — which involved the use of combat aircraft, drones and missiles — pushed up military spending of India during the year, according to the report.“Pakistan’s military spending grew by 11% to $11.9 billion in 2025. The increase was largely due to new orders for aircraft and missiles placed with China in 2025 following the armed conflict with India in May, as well as payments for earlier procurement contracts nearing completion,” according to SIPRI’s annual “Trends in World Military Expenditure” report.China, the world’s second largest military spender, increased its military spending by 7.4% to $336 billion. This was the 31st consecutive year-on-year increase as China continued its military modernization drive. “A renewed campaign against corruption in military procurement does not appear to have constrained spending,” the report stated.At $954 billion, military spending by the US was 7.5% lower in 2025 than in 2024.
The drop was primarily due to the fact that no new financial military assistance for Ukraine was approved during the year. This was in sharp contrast to the previous three years, when a total of $127 billion was approved.
Five biggest spenders:
The five biggest spenders in 2025 were the US, China, Russia, Germany and India, together accounting for 58% of world military spending, at a total of $1,686 billion, according to new data.The global world military expenditure reached $2,887 billion in 2025, the 11th consecutive year of growth.
Global spending has gone up by 41% over the past decade (2016–25). Global military expenditure rose in 2025 despite a drop in spending by the US, the world’s biggest spender. A sharp increase in European spending and continued growth in Asia and Oceania were more than enough to offset the decrease in US spending during the year.
World military expenditure, excluding the US, grew by 9.2% in 2025.The world’s military burden— the share of global GDP devoted to military expenditure — went up from 2.4% in 2024 to 2.5% in 2025.
The global average military expenditure as a share of govt expenditure was 6.9% in 2025, compared with 7% in 2024, and world spending per person stood at $352 in 2025.
Global military spending:
The Global military spending surged by almost 3% in 2025, fuelled largely by ballooning defence expenditures in Europe and Asia as per the report.West Asia, however, saw only marginal growth despite ongoing conflicts and regional rivalries.The increase in military spending brought the global military burden-military expenditure as a share of gross domestic product (GDP) — to 2.5%, its highest level since 2009.
“Global military spending rose again in 2025 as states responded to another year of wars, uncertainty and geopolitical upheaval with large-scale armament drives,” the report said.The main contributor to the global increase in military spending in 2025 was a 14% rise in Europe to $864 billion. Spending by Russia and Ukraine continued to grow in the fourth year of the war in Ukraine, while ongoing rearmament efforts by European Nato members led to the sharpest annual growth in spending in Central and Western Europe since the end of the cold war.Military expenditure in Asia and Oceania totalled $681 billion in 2025, 8.1% higher than in 2024 — the largest annual rise since 2009m, the report said.
