According to a London think tank, global defense spending is shrinking despite the tense security situation due to high inflation. In European countries, on the other hand, the defense budget has grown, say the analysts. They attest a record increase in Beijing’s military budget.
In absolute terms, China increased its defense spending more than ever in the past year. This is the result of a recent analysis by the think tank International Institute for Strategic Studies based in London. China’s military spending increased by seven percent in last year’s budget compared to the previous year, which in absolute terms corresponds to the largest increase ever. While China’s new aircraft carrier has received a lot of attention, investments have also been made in additional and more complex warships and in the air force.
With regard to the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, the military experts in their report note high losses on both sides. In the first phase of the invasion, an enormous number of Russian soldiers fell. An attempt was made to compensate for this through extensive mobilization – but this meant a large number of inexperienced fighters. Around half of the tank fleet from before the war – consisting of the T-72B3 and T-72B3M models among others – had been destroyed, so Moscow had to replace them with older models.
According to the inventory, Ukrainian equipment has changed rapidly thanks to Western support. Overall, the war is fueling a move away from Soviet-era equipment and a trend toward increased defense spending in many European countries. Poland is also accelerating the modernization of its equipment.
In this process, South Korea has developed into an important arms supplier. Despite the deteriorating security situation, high inflation has reduced the real value of investment, the report said, leading to a net decline in global defense spending over the past year. Compared to the previous year, they fell by 2.1 percent – it is the second decline in a row. In relation to Europe, expenditure in 2022 increased by 0.8 percent year-on-year. However, this increase was lower than in 2021 – also because of the inflation effect.
