Global defense spending climbed to a record nearly $2.9 trillion in 2025, marking the 11th straight year of increases, even as the United States saw its steepest annual drop in decades, according to fresh figures released Monday by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
Europe was the primary driver of this growth, with military expenditures jumping 14% to $864 billion—SIPRI’s highest recorded total for the region. Among NATO’s European members, this was the fastest annual rise since 1953. Germany surpassed the 2% of GDP benchmark for the first time since 1990, with spending rising 24% to $114 billion, and has committed to reaching 3.5% by 2029. Spain’s defense budget surged 50% to $40.2 billion, also exceeding 2% of GDP for the first time since 1994, while Poland allocated 4.5% of its GDP to defense—the highest share within NATO.
A similar trend was observed in Asia and Oceania, where total spending increased 8.1% to $681 billion, the region’s largest rise since 2009. China’s military budget grew 7.4% to an estimated $336 billion, extending its streak of annual increases to 31 years. Taiwan recorded a 14% rise to $18.2 billion—its biggest jump since at least 1988—amid escalating Chinese military drills nearby. Japan’s defense spending reached $62.2 billion, accounting for 1.4% of GDP, its highest level since 1958.
Russia and Ukraine, now in the fifth year of conflict, continued ramping up their defense budgets. Russia spent an estimated $190 billion—equivalent to 7.5% of GDP and a record 20% of total government expenditure—while Ukraine allocated $84.1 billion, representing roughly 40% of GDP and 63% of government spending.
Overall, global military spending rose by 2.9% in real terms—the slowest annual growth since 2021—largely due to technical factors. The main reason was the absence of newly approved U.S. military aid for Ukraine during the year, which SIPRI includes in the donor country’s total. U.S. defense spending fell 7.5% to $954 billion, primarily because no additional Ukraine-related funding packages were passed in 2025, compared to $127 billion authorized over the previous three years. Excluding the United States, global military expenditure increased by 9.2%.
SIPRI analysts noted that the decline in U.S. spending is unlikely to persist. Program director Nan Tian indicated that Congress has already authorized over $1 trillion for 2026, with potential growth to $1.5 trillion in 2027 if President Donald Trump’s latest budget proposal is approved.
The report also highlighted concerns about transparency. At the June 2025 NATO summit, the alliance raised its spending target to 5% of GDP by 2035, allowing up to 1.5 percentage points to include broadly defined “defense- and security-related” costs. Researchers cautioned that such vague criteria could encourage “creative accounting,” citing Italy’s reported attempt to classify the cost of building a bridge to Sicily as defense spending. Since NATO does not release detailed breakdowns, independent verification of such figures is becoming increasingly challenging.
In total, NATO members spent $1.581 trillion in 2025, accounting for 55% of global military expenditure—a share that SIPRI warns may not fully represent the alliance’s true operational capabilities.
