Sweden : Global Annual Arms Sales Surges

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), has made startling revelations. In a global report published on Monday April 22, 2024. The Stockholm-based research institute revealed that in 2023, the global military expenditure witnessed its steepest increase in over a decade, reaching an all-time high of $2.4 trillion as wars and rising tensions fueled spending across the world. Military spending rose across the globe with particularly large increases in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, SIPRI reported. “Total military spending is at an all-time high ... and for the first time since 2009, we saw spending increase across all five geographical regions,” Nan Tian, Senior Researcher with SIPRI’s Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme, told AFP. He added that, “the unprecedented rise in military spending is a direct response to the global deterioration in peace and security with States prioritizing military strength, but they risk an action–reaction spiral in the increasingly volatile geopolitical and security landscape.” 
The continuation of the war in Ukraine led to an increase in spending by Ukraine, Russia and a host of European countries. Russia boosted spending by 24 per cent, reaching $109 billion in 2023, according to SIPRI’s estimates. Since 2014, when Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimea, the country’s military spending has risen by 57 per cent. While Ukraine’s military spending rose by 51 per cent, reaching $64.8 billion, but the country also received $35 billion in military aid. In Europe, Poland saw the largest increase in military spending by far, up by 75 per cent to $31.6 billion. Spending also rose across the Middle East, where I...