Since Russia’s invasion of Crimea, world military expenditures have risen by 39% in real terms, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), a sharp acceleration from a 24% increase in the 10 years prior. The chart illustrates that the contribution of the United States to this increase is smaller than its share of world GDP, meaning it is not footing as much of the rise in the world’s military budgets as it used to. Instead, though not a member of the Coalition of the Willing which pledged support for securing peace in Ukraine, it hopes that the laggards among it step up. This refers especially to countries whose military budgets are both lower than their share of GDP and whose share continues to diminish, shown in red here, such as Canada. For more on Canada’s defence spending plans, please see here.
Note: This chart shows the proportional increase in world military spending since Russia’s invasion of Crimea, by members of the “Coalition of the Willing,” relative to their share of world GDP. The world’s three largest militaries have been added for comparison. A score above 100 means the country has contributed more than its share of GDP to that increase in military spending. Ukraine itself is not shown because it is off the chart at 4900, while Ireland and Iceland are not shown because their military spending is practically nil. Bars colored red show countries whose current share of world military spending is significantly lower (by 25 percentage points or more) than their share of world GDP. Conversely, bars colored blue show countries whose current share of world military spending significantly exceeds their share of world GDP (by 25 percentage points or more).
