Report finds over $1 trillion per year is spent on arms worldwide
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According to a new report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), total world military spending was $1.35 trillion in 2004. The institute says that this is just 6% off the all time record, set in 1987 at the end of the Cold War. However this record could soon be shattered as spending jumped 5% last year alone. In a stark example of the huge amount spent on the military by the United States, SIPRI revealed that almost half of all spending is by the US, $455bn or 47% to be exact. This figure is greater than the combined
According to a new report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), total world military spending was $1.35 trillion in 2004. The institute says that this is just 6% off the all time record, set in 1987 at the end of the Cold War. However this record could soon be shattered as spending jumped 5% last year alone.
In a stark example of the huge amount spent on the military by the United States, SIPRI revealed that almost half of all spending is by the US, $455bn or 47% to be exact. This figure is greater than the combined spending of the next 32 heaviest spenders. US spending on its armed forces now stands at 3.9% of its GDP, less than the 6% during the Cold War, but more than the 3% reported the previous year.
The top five spenders in 2004 were as follows:
United States of America
United Kingdom
France
Japan
China
Sources & reporting note
Licensed archive reporting by Wikinews contributors. Text: Public domain (https://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Wikinews:Copyright). Original source date retained. 411 has not independently verified this archive report.
Read the source: Wikinews ↗Source published 7 Jun 2005, 05:30 am IST
