Military spending hits record $2.1 trillion    

Global military spending rose again in 2021, setting new records as Russia continued to beef up its military prior to its invasion of Ukraine, researchers said yesterday, predicting the trend would continue in Europe in particular.

Despite the economic fallout of the global COVID pandemic, countries around the world increased their arsenals, with global military spending rising by 0.7 percent last year, according to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri).

"In 2021 military spending rose for the seventh consecutive time to reach $2.1 trillion. That is the highest figure we have ever had," Diego Lopes da Silva, senior researcher at Sipri, told AFP.

Russia's spending grew by 2.9 percent -- the third year of consecutive growth -- to $65.9 billion.

Defense spending accounted for 4.1 percent of Russia's gross domestic product (GDP), "much higher than the world average", and making Moscow the fifth largest spender in the world, Lopes da Silva said.

High oil and gas revenues helped the country boost military expenditure. Lopes da Silva noted that Russia saw a sharp uptick in spending towards the end of the year.

Whether Russia would be able to sustain its spending was difficult to predict, Lopes da Silva said, due to the wave of sanctions imposed by the West in response to the aggression in Ukraine.

On the other side, Ukraine's military spending has risen by 72 percent since the annexation of Crimea. While spending declined by over eight percent in 2021 to $5.9 billion, it still accounted for 3.2 percent of Ukraine's GDP.

As tensions have increased in Europe, more NATO countries have stepped up spending.

Eight members countries last year reached the targeted two percent of GDP...