Expenditures rose to US$681 billion, as some nations worried that Washington might not be a reliable security partner
3-MIN READ3-MINSeong Hyeon ChoiPublished: 6:00am, 27 Apr 2026Military spending in the Asia-Pacific rose at the fastest pace for 16 years in 2025 as US allies felt “growing uncertainty” over whether Washington would honour its security commitments, according to a new report.Total global spending reached US$2.89 trillion, an increase of 2.9 per cent from 2024, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) think tank said in its annual report on military expenditure published Monday.
That marked the 11th consecutive year of increases and brought the global military burden to 2.5 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), the highest since 2009.
The top three military spenders – the United States, mainland China and Russia – spent a combined total of US$1.48 trillion, just over half of the global total.
