World military spending grows in 2020 despite pandemic

Stockholm

MILITARY expenditure worldwide rose to nearly US$2 trillion in 2020, defying the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, researchers said on Monday.

Global military spending increased by 2.6 per cent to US$1,981 billion in 2020, when global gross domestic product shrank 4.4 per cent, according to a report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri).

Diego Lopes da Silva, one of report's authors, told AFP the development was unexpected.

"Because of the pandemic, one would think military spending would decrease," he said. "But it's possible to conclude with some certainty that Covid-19 did not have a significant impact on global military spending, in 2020 at least," Mr Lopes da Silva said.

He cautioned however that due to the nature of military spending, it could take time for countries "to adapt to the shock".

The fact that military spending continued to increase in a year with an economic downturn meant the "military burden", or the share of military spending out of total GDP, had increased as well.

The overall share rose from 2.2 per cent to 2.4 per cent, the largest year-on-year increase since the financial crisis of 2009. There were however indications the pandemic had affected some countries. Nations such as Chile and South Korea openly decided to re-appropriate military funds in response to the pandemic.

"Other countries, such as Brazil and Russia, did not explicitly say this was reallocated because of the pandemic, but they have spent considerably less than their original budget for 2020," Mr Lopes da Silva said. AFP