World military spending grows despite pandemic
26 April, 2021
Military expenditure worldwide rose to practically $2 trillion in 2020, defying the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers said Monday.
Global military spending increased by 2.6 percent to $1,981 billion (about 1,650 billion euros) in 2020, when global GDP shrank 4.4 percent, according to a report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
Diego Lopes da Silva, among report's authors, told AFP the development was unexpected.
"Due to pandemic, one would think military spending would decrease," he said.
"But it is possible to conclude with some certainty that COVID-19 didn't have a significant impact on global military spending, in 2020 at least," Lopes da Silva said.
He cautioned however that due to the nature of military spending, it might devote some time for countries "to adjust to the shock".
The fact that military spending continued to improve in a year with an economical downturn meant the "military burden", or the share of military spending out of total GDP, had increased as well.
The entire share rose from 2.2 percent to 2.4 percent, the largest year-on-year increase because the financial meltdown of 2009.
Therefore, more NATO members hit the Alliance's guideline target of spending at least two percent of GDP on the military, with 12 countries doing so in 2020 in comparison to nine in 2019.
There have been however indications the pandemic had damaged some countries.
Nations such as for example Chile and South Korea openly made a decision to reappropriate military funds in response to the pandemic.
"Other countries, such as for example Brazil and Russia, didn't explicitly say this is reallocated as a result of the pandemic, nonetheless they have spent considerably significantly less than their original cover 2020," Lopes da Silva said.
Another response, as in Hungary for instance, was to improve military spending "within a stimulus package in response to the pandemic".
Lopes da Silva noted many countries taken care of immediately the 2008-2009 monetary crisis by adopting austerity measures, but "this time around it could not be the case".
The world's two biggest spenders by far were the U.S. and China, with Washington accounting for 39 percent of overall expenditure and Beijing for 13 percent.
China's military spending has risen in tandem using its growing economy and has seen a rise for 26 consecutive years, reaching an estimated $252 billion in 2020.
THE UNITED STATES also increased its spending for the 3rd year in a row in 2020, after seven years of reductions.
"This reflects growing concerns over perceived threats from strategic competitors such as China and Russia, plus the Trump administration's drive to bolster what it saw as a depleted U.S. military," Alexandra Marksteiner, another writer of the report, said in a statement.
Lopes da Silva however noted that the brand new "Biden administration hasn't given any indications that it will reduce military spending."
Source: japantoday.com
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