Global Military Spending Saw Largest Increase in Decade in 2019 with Saudi Arabia among Top 5

By Staff, Agencies

Global military expenditure at 3.6% saw its largest annual spike in a decade in 2019 with China, India, Russia and Saudi Arabia being the second, third, fourth and fifth-largest spenders after the US, a Stockholm-based think-tank said on Monday.

The total global military expenditure rose to $1,917 billion in 2019, representing an annual growth of 3.6% compared to 2018, according to a new report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute [SIPRI].

The Saudi Kingdom surpassed France, Britain, Japan, Germany and South Korea, which ranked sixth to tenth.

Saudi Arabia has waged, for the past 5 years, an aggression against Yemen, in which it committed hideous crimes against civilians and is imposing a harsh blockade that causes a humanitarian crisis that is the largest in decades.

According to the US-based Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, a nonprofit conflict-research organization, the war has claimed more than 100,000 lives over the past five years.

According to the UN’s top aid official, Mark Lowcock, civilian casualties have risen every month since January.