Monday, April 24, 2017

Fact of the Day (military spending)

According to figures released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) today, during the Global Days of Action on Military Spending, world military expenditure in 2016 totalled an estimated US$1,686 billion.

 Last year's global military spending averaged out to more than US$4.6 billion every day, while an average of more than 16,000 children under the age of five died every day from mainly preventable causes - lack of access to adequate food, clean water and basic medicines. 

Just twelve days of military expenditure would eradicate extreme poverty everywhere, and just five weeks of military expenditure would ensure that five of the key UN Sustainable Development Goals are met. 

The United States remains the country with the highest annual military expenditure in the world. US military spending grew by 1.7 per cent between 2015 and 2016 to $611 billion. 

Military expenditure by China, which was the second largest spender in 2016, increased by 5.4 per cent to $215 billion, a much lower rate of growth than in previous years.

 Russia increased its spending by 5.9 per cent in 2016 to $69.2 billion, making it the third largest spender. 

Saudi Arabia was the third largest spender in 2015 but dropped to fourth position in 2016. Spending by Saudi Arabia fell by 30 per cent in 2016 to $63.7 billion, despite its continued involvement in regional wars. India’s military expenditure grew by 8.5 per cent in 2016 to $55.9 billion, making it the fifth largest spender.

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