6.13.2006
Global Military Spend Hits $1.12 trillion (Reuters.com)
Mon Jun 12, 2006 7:45am ET
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - U.S. spending in Iraq and Afghanistan helped push up global 2005 military expenditure by 3.5 percent to $1.12 trillion, a research body said on Monday.
Several countries, including Saudi Arabia and Russia, benefited from the rise in prices for minerals and fossil fuels to boost their military spending, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said in its latest yearbook.
"The USA is responsible for 48 percent of the world total, distantly followed by the UK, France, Japan and China with 4 to 5 percent each," the Swedish government-funded institute added.
It said U.S. spending was behind about 80 percent of the gain in 2005.
Spending on weapons accounted for 2.5 percent of the world's gross domestic product, or average spending of $173 per capita.
A process of concentration of spending continued in 2005, it added, as 15 countries with the highest spending accounted for 84 percent of the world total.
(More ... Global military spend hits $1.12 trillion: report | Reuters.com) ¶ 17:28
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - U.S. spending in Iraq and Afghanistan helped push up global 2005 military expenditure by 3.5 percent to $1.12 trillion, a research body said on Monday.
Several countries, including Saudi Arabia and Russia, benefited from the rise in prices for minerals and fossil fuels to boost their military spending, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said in its latest yearbook.
"The USA is responsible for 48 percent of the world total, distantly followed by the UK, France, Japan and China with 4 to 5 percent each," the Swedish government-funded institute added.
It said U.S. spending was behind about 80 percent of the gain in 2005.
Spending on weapons accounted for 2.5 percent of the world's gross domestic product, or average spending of $173 per capita.
A process of concentration of spending continued in 2005, it added, as 15 countries with the highest spending accounted for 84 percent of the world total.
(More ... Global military spend hits $1.12 trillion: report | Reuters.com) ¶ 17:28
