Europe led a record international rise in defence spending last year, according to a report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
European expenses rose in real terms by 17 percent to $693m, spearheading a global rise of 9.4 percent to $2.7 trillion, marking the highest level of defence spending since the fall of communism in Europe.
Russia’s war in Ukraine was the principal driver of the new trend, SIPRI said on Monday.
“The rapid spending increases among European NATO members were driven mainly by the ongoing Russian threat and concerns about possible US disengagement within the alliance,” said Jade Guiberteau Ricard, a researcher with SIPRI.
The protagonists in that war still bore the brunt of its expense.
Russia saw the biggest annual rise of any single country at 38 percent, as it suffered devastating material losses in its war in Ukraine. It spent $149bn, more than 7 percent of its economic output.
Ukraine spent its entire tax income of $64.7bn on its defence, and was the country devoting the biggest proportion of its economy – 34 percent – to the military.
But apparent US reluctance to continue to fund Ukraine’s defence means more of the burden may fall on Europe.
That might not be as onerous as it sounds. The size of the European Union economy meant that it needed to spend only 0.12 percent more of its gross domestic product (GDP) to replace US military support for Ukraine, the think tank Bruegel estimated last February.
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