Global military spending has surpassed $2 trillion for the first time.

According to a leading defense think tank report based in Sweden, global military spending has reached an all-time high, surpassing $2 trillion in 2021, as spending increased for the seventh consecutive year.

According to new data released on Monday by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, the top five defense spenders were the United States, China, India, the United Kingdom, and Russia, accounting for 62 percent of global expenditure (SIPRI). "Military spending will increase for the seventh time in a row in 2021, reaching $2.1 trillion." "That is the highest figure we have ever had," said Diego Lopes da Silva, senior researcher at SIPRI, to AFP. Despite the economic consequences of the global COVID pandemic, countries worldwide increased their arsenals last year, with global military spending rising by 0.7 percent, according to SIPRI. Defense spending accounted for 4.1 percent of Russia's GDP, which was "much higher than the world average," making Moscow the world's fifth-largest spender, according to Lopes da Silva. When Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, the country was also sanctioned when energy prices fell, making it difficult to assess how effective sanctions were on their own.

Ukraine's military spending, on the other hand, has increased by 72 percent since the annexation of Crimea. While spending fell by more than 8% in 2021 to $5.9 billion, it still accounted for 3.2 percent of Ukraine's GDP.