Ukraine war boosted European arms spending to €2 billion, a level not seen since the end of the Cold War
Spain increased its military spending by 7.3% year-on-year in 2022 to 18.5 billion eurosaccording to a report released Monday by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
This figure, which is equivalent to 1.5% of Spain’s gross domestic product (GDP), places it as the sixteenth country that spent the most on armaments. last year, down one place from 2021 and representing a 28% rise over the past decade.
The increase in Spanish military spending is part of an upward trend recorded in 2022 throughout Europe, which returned to magnitudes not seen since the end of the Cold War, due to the conflict in Ukraine.
Europe was the continent with the largest year-on-year rise in arms purchases, up 13%, which, coupled with rising tensions in East Asia, contributed to global spending at a record EUR 2 trillion2 trillion, up 3.7% year-on-year in real terms (twice as much excluding inflation) and equivalent to 2.2% of global gross domestic product (GDP).
The report highlights that 315 billion euros were spent in Central and Western Europe, 30% more than in 2013 and a figure that exceeds for the first time that of 1989, coinciding with the end of the Cold War.
Finland, with 36 % more, Lithuania (27 %), Sweden (12 %) and Poland (11 %) experienced. the sharpest increases of the military budget, and the plans launched by several countries make it likely that spending in the area will continue to grow in the future, notes SIPRI.
Russia, third on the world list, increased its military investment by 9.2 %. to about 78.86 billion euros, 4.1 % of its GDP, while Ukraine experienced a record increase of 640 %, 34 % of its GDP, excluding donations received from other countries.
Despite the rises recorded in Europe and other areas, The United States maintains its dominance undisputed dominance worldwide: it spent $877 billion (880.469 billion euros), 39% of the total and three times more than China, the second in the list.
