Military spender: Germany rises to world’s fourth largest
Germany’s military expenditures skyrocketed to $88.5 billion in 2024, making it the planet’s fourth-largest military spender. This also makes it the highest in Central and Western Europe for the first time since reunification in 1990.
The country is now spending 1.9% of its GDP, bringing it closer to NATO’s target of 2%. This is a 28% increase from 2023 and an 89% increase since 2015, a Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) report has found.
America still leads as the largest military spender with $997 billion last year. This reflects a 5.7% annual increase. In second place is China with an estimated $314 billion or a 7% rise over the same period. And in third place is Russia which spent an estimated $149 billion, a 38% increase compared with the year before.
Germany’s sudden increase has largely been propelled by a €100 billion extra-budgetary fund that was established in 2022 and continued to power the country’s defence capabilities in 2024. Significant arms purchases were greenlit by its parliament, as well as research initiatives, funded in part by the fund.
Leopard 2 A8 main battle tanks, additional U-212CD submarines, Patriot PAC-3 missile defence systems, and 155mm artillery ammunition were among the procurments in 2024. A record 97 major procurement and development projects were approved by the budget committee in 2024, “exhausting” most of the funding, according to Lorenzo Scarazzato, a researcher from the SIPRI.
Germany has also been providing military aid to Ukraine, being the second largest donor after the US to its defence efforts in its ongoing war with Russia.
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