Spain, for the first time among the 15 countries that spend the most on defense

BarcelonaGlobal military spending has once again exceeded records for the 11th consecutive year, reaching $2.887 trillion in 2025, meaning it cost more than 300 euros per person. This figure is equivalent to 2.5% of global GDP. This is indicated by the annual report published by Sipri (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute), the most prestigious institution for military studies, which warns that global spending has increased by more than 40% in the last decade.

The military burden has increased in all regions except the American continent. Europe is the region where it has grown the most, with a 14% increase, driven by NATO's new spending obligations to exceed 2% of GDP. The 32 members of the alliance have accounted for 55% of total global military spending ($1.581 billion). The global upward trend is a response to "another year of wars, uncertainty, and geopolitical upheavals with major armament campaigns," states Xiao Liang, a researcher at SIPRI's Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme, who predicts that growth will continue in 2026.

However, the growth in defense investment has been less than in the previous year. While the year-on-year variation was 9.7% in 2024, it was 2.9% in 2025. How is this explained? Because the military spending of the United States, which is the world's leading defense investor, has decreased considerably. This is basically due to the fact that Donald Trump's US administration did not approve any new military financial assistance for Ukraine during the year. This is in stark contrast to the previous three years when – under Joe Biden's presidency – Washington allocated a total of $127 billion to Kyiv.

However, the United States continues to represent a third (33%) of global arms spending. Quique Sánchez, researcher at the Delàs Center and coordinator of the GCOMS campaign, warns ARA that "we cannot be fooled" by this temporary reduction and alerts that in the next two years it could skyrocket again. "With the war in Iran and the announcements Trump has made for 2027 [spending] could grow by another 50%".

Spain increases military spending by 50%

Although Washington breaks with the upward trend it was following, the budgetary effort in defense by NATO's European partners has continued to increase and has reached 559 billion dollars. Of these, Germany has spent the most, with 114 billion dollars. But Spain is the second country that has increased spending the most, after Belgium. In fact, the Spanish state has placed itself for the first time among the 15 countries that spend the most on military budgets, as a result of having promoted the Rearmament Plan approved by the government in April 2025.

According to Sipri data, Spanish military spending in 2025 was 34.239 billion euros, an increase of 50% compared to the previous year. On the other hand, the Delàs Centre places the figure at 39.476 billion euros, that is, 2.42% of GDP. These numbers are higher than those published by the Spanish government, which are 33.123 billion euros. "It's not that Spain is at the back of NATO, it's in the middle," says Quique Sánchez, who points out that the numbers do not match the "official narrative" of Sánchez's government and denounces that "military expenses are hidden in other budget items and that it does not explain how it calculates".

Ukraine and Russia break records

In this context of geopolitical upheaval, Russia's and Ukraine's spending continued to grow in the fourth year of the war in Ukraine to unprecedented levels. Russia's military spending grew by 5.9% in 2025 to $190 billion, or 7.5% of GDP. And Ukraine – which despite its size is the seventh largest spender on defense in real terms – increased its spending by 20% to $84.1 billion, or 40% of GDP. "Its spending is likely to continue to grow in 2026 if the war continues, with revenues from Russia's oil sales increasing and a significant loan from the European Union planned for Ukraine," states Lorenzo Scarazzato, a researcher with SIPRI's programme on military expenditure and arms production.

In the Middle East, spending remained stable despite the severity of ongoing conflicts, with an increase of only 0.1% compared to 2024. Israel decreased spending by about 5%, reflecting a reduction in the intensity of the war in Gaza after the ceasefire with Hamas in January 2025. Nevertheless, Tel Aviv's spending remained 97% higher than in 2022.

For its part, China increased spending by 7.4% compared to the previous year, the largest growth in the last decade. In this way, it achieves a streak of 31 consecutive years of increasing spending, a milestone never before recorded which, for Sánchez, responds to the planning of the Chinese economy and should be understood under defensive parameters.