Defense spending

Military spending hits highest level in a decade: Study


Global military expenditures saw the biggest uptick in a decade in 2019, researchers say, marking the first year two Asian countries were among the top three spenders.

The world's nations spent a combined $1.9 trillion (1.78 trillion euros) on their militaries in 2019, according to a report released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) on Monday.

Compared with 2018, that represented annual growth of 3.6 percent, the largest spending surge since 2010.

"This is the highest level of spending since the 2008 global financial crisis and probably represents a peak in expenditure," Nan Tian, a researcher at SIPRI, told the AFP news agency.