Context: Recently, the Swedish think tank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) has recently released its annual report on global Military Expenditure.

• According to the report, the global military expenditure rose to $1917 billion in 2019 with India and China emerging among the top three spenders.

Key Points

Global military spending was 2.2% of the global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) with an increase of 3.6% from 2018.

• The increase of 3.6% was the largest annual growth in spending since 2010.

Top five largest spenders accounted for 62% of the global expenditure.

• The USA>China>India>Russia>Saudi Arabia.
• India was at the 4th position in 2018 with Saudi Arabia at the 3rd.

Data related to Asia and Oceania:

• Japan ($47.6 billion) and South Korea ($43.9 billion) were the largest military spenders apart from India and China.
• Pakistan was at the 24th position compared to the 19th in 2018.
• Its military expenditure rose by 70% over the decade 2010-19, to reach $10.3 billion while the military burden increased to 4% of GDP in 2019 from 3.4% in 2010.
• Military burden assesses the proportion of national resources dedicated to military activities and the burden on the economy.

Analysis of the India’s military expenditure

• The report highlights that India’s defence expenditure is growing in absolute terms. However, defence expenditure has been going down as a percentage of its GDP, due to the increasing trend in the growth of GDP.
• In 2019, the expenditure was 2.4% of India’s GDP which was lower than that of 2.7% in 2010.
• Total Defence Allocation, including Defence Pension, accounted for 15.48% of the total Central Government expenditure for the year 2019-20.
• Total defence budget accounts for 15.49% of the total central government expenditure for the year 2020-21.
• It shows a growth of 9.37% over Budget Estimates 2019-20.
• It was about 1.5% of the country’s GDP, the lowest in recent times.
• India’s tensions and rivalry with both Pakistan and China are among the major drivers for its increased military spending.

About Stockholm International Peace Research Institute(SIPRI)

• SIPRI is an independent international institute and a think tank established in 1966.
• Headquarter: Stockholm.
• Vision: A world in which sources of insecurity are identified and understood, conflicts are prevented or resolved, and peace is sustained.
• It researches into conflict, armaments, arms control and disarmament.
• It provides data, analysis and recommendations, based on open sources, to policymakers, researchers, media and the interested public.