Global Arms Race Rekindled: Military Spending Sees Biggest Rise Since the Cold War

By Andy May 25 2 mins read

2024 global military spending jumps 9.4% to $2.7 trillion—the steepest rise since the Cold War

In 2024, governments around the world boosted their defense budgets by 9.4 percent in real terms—the largest year-on-year jump since the Cold War ended—raising total military outlays to $2.718 trillion (€2.389 trillion). According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), every one of the globe’s top 15 spenders increased their military funding last year, with especially fast growth in Europe and the Middle East.

United States, China, Russia, Germany and India together shelled out $1.635 trillion (€1.437 trillion), making up 60 percent of world military spending.
As a share of global GDP, defense outlays climbed to 2.5 percent, up from the previous year.

The full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 continued to reverberate through European defense budgets:

All European countries except Malta raised their military spending in 2024.
Germany set a new record for Central and Western Europe, allocating €77.9 billion ($88.5 billion) to its armed forces.
Poland’s budget jumped by 31 percent to $38 billion (€33.4 billion), equivalent to 4.2 percent of its GDP.
Ukraine edged its military expenditure up by 2.9 percent to $64.7 billion (€56.8 billion)—43 percent of Russia’s outlay and the highest burden relative to GDP of any country.
Including Russia’s own increase (38 percent to $149 billion), European defense spending as a whole reached $693 billion (€609 billion).

In 2023, the Uppsala Conflict Data Program recorded a record-high 59 state-based armed conflicts, the most since 1946—a trend SIPRI experts expect to persist.
“As governments prioritize military security over other budget areas, the social and economic trade-offs may last for years,” warns Xiao Liang of SIPRI’s Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme.
In March 2025, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen unveiled the Rearm Europe Plan, aiming to mobilize up to €800 billion for a major ramp-up in defense capabilities.
“Recent policies in Germany and across Europe point to an era of high and rising military spending that likely won’t abate anytime soon,” notes Lorenzo Scarazzato, another SIPRI researcher.