MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

UK becomes third largest defense spender in the world behind US and China

According to IISS, UK's defense budget for 2021 was US$ 71.6bn, with only the United States (US$ 754bn) and China (US$207.3bn) spending more.

UK has overtaken India to become the third-largest defense spender in the world, according to a new report by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). The new 'Military Balance 2022' report is an assessment of all military capabilities and defense economics of 171 countries worldwide.

According to the report, the UK's defense budget for 2021 was US$ 71.6bn, with only the United States (US$ 754bn) and China (US$207.3 bn) spending more.

Behind the UK was India, with a spend of US$ 65.1bn, and Russia, which spent US$ 62.2bn, some 3.8% of its total GDP.

Finishing off the top 10 were fellow NATO allies France (US$ 59.3bn) and Germany (US$ 56.1bn), followed by Japan (US$ 49.3bn), Saudi Arabia (US$ 46.7bn) and South Korea (US$ 46.7bn).

The report stated it was “clear” European countries had “turned a corner in terms of their defense spending, since Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 and subsequent military intervention in eastern Ukraine upended the continent's security landscape”.

It also said it was clear “concern over Chinese and Russian military developments is driving regional as well as wider international military developments”.

The report outlined a “continued focus” in Europe on improving combat air capabilities, air defense and rocket artillery, as well as growing attention “on countering the non-military tools that Russia employs as part of its overall strategy”.

It added the same worries are also “driving closer co-operation between NATO and non-NATO states” concerned by Russian activity – particularly Finland, Sweden and Ukraine.

The IISS also outlined that, in 2021, European defense spending grew by 4.8% in real terms, more than any other geographical region – the seventh consecutive year of real-terms growth. The increase last year, in combination with a reduction of spending in other regions, means defense spending in Europe represented 18.7% of the global total. This is an increase after the total remained at between 16.5% and 17% annually since 2014.

The continued increase of European defense spending “reflects sharpened threat perceptions”, according to the report.

And the higher spend is adjusted for inflation, with surging inflation in other regions reducing the effect of nominal defense-budget increases.

The total global spend on defense rose again in 2021, reaching $1.92bn – an increase of 3.4% on 2020. However, inflation in all regions meant this amounted to a 1.8% reduction in real terms.

There were real-term spending contractions in Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and North Africa and in Russia and Eurasia, even though nominal increases were evident across most regions.

However, it also said defense spending in Asia, of which China accounted for 43% of total spending in the region in 2021, has “proven resilient” with “little evidence” the COVID-19 pandemic has “derailed planned defense investments”.

The IISS report also said their budget predictions indicate that China's official budget could reach just under $270bn by 2030.