According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri) report released on April 27, 2020, India was the world’s third-biggest military spender last year, trailing only the United States and China. The report was released with title ‘Trends in World Military Expenditure.’
More features of SIPRI Report
First time that India and China have featured among the top three military spenders. Russia and Saudi Arabia were the fourth and fifth largest spenders last year.
India’s defence spending grew 6.8% to reach $71.1 billion in 2019.
India’s tensions and rivalry with both Pakistan and China are among the major drivers for its increased military spending.
India’s military expenditure grew 259% over a 30-year period (1990-2019) and by 37% over decade (2010–19).
India’s military burden fell from 2.7% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2010 to 2.4% in 2019.
The global military expenditure stood at around $1,917 billion in 2019 — the highest in 30 years. This represents an increase of 3.6% over the global defence spending in 2018 and the largest annual growth since 2010.
