Global arms spending hits $1.5 trillion record despite downturn

WORLDWIDE military spending surged to a record $1.5 trillion last year, defying an economic downturn caused by the global financial crisis, a leading think tank said yesterday.

In its 2010 yearbook the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said spending between 2008 and 2009 grew 5.9%, with the United States accounting for more than half of that increase.

“The far-reaching effects of the global financial crisis and economic recession appear to have had little impact on world military expenditure,” the think tank said. “Although the USA led the rise, it was not alone. Of those countries for which data was available, 65% increased their military spending in real terms in 2009.”

Global gross domestic product (GDP) suffered a rare contraction last year, shrinking 0.9% according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, as the financial crisis sent economies across the world into recession.

SIPRI, which conducts independent research on international security, armaments and disarmament, said the rise in spending reflected the mild economic slowdown for some major purchasers, such as China, but also long-term strategic aims.

“Many countries were increasing public spending generally in 2009, as a way of boosting demand to combat the recession. Although military spending wasn’t usually a major part of the economic stimulus packages, it wasn’t cut either,” said Sam Perlo-Freeman, head of SIPRI’s Military Expenditure Project.

“The figures also demonstrate that for major or intermediate powers such as the USA, China, Russia, India and Brazil, military spending represents a long-term strategic choice which they are willing to make even in hard economic times.”

US military spending, burdened by huge costs for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, rose 7.7% to hit $661 billion, more than six times as much as China, the second biggest spender ahead of France, Britain and Russia.

But China’s rise as a global military power becomes clearer when viewed over the past decade. In that period its military spending has surged 217% compared with a 76% rise for the US and a global rise of 49%.

The economic crisis severely strained public finances in many countries, not least in southern Europe, and the daunting task of cutting gaping budget deficits might hold back arms spending in the coming years, the think tank said.

In terms of nuclear weapons arsenals, SIPRI estimated that 8,100nuclear warheads are operational in the US, Russia, China, Britain, France, India, Pakistan and Israel. Although that is 300 fewer than a year earlier, around 2,000 of them were still “on high alert”, or ready to be launched within minutes, it said.