Russia Drops Out of Top 5 Defense Spending Countries

The share of world military expenditures of the 15 countries with the highest spending in 2018.

SIPRI Military Expenditure Database

Russia Drops Out of Top 5 Defense Spending Countries

Russia now ranks sixth in the world for defense spending, with $61.4 billion in expenditures in 2018 compared to $66.3 billion the year before.

The Swedish think tank said that the decrease was part of a longer trend in defense expenditure decrease in the country.

The five biggest spenders in 2018 were

the United States,

China,

Saudi Arabia,

India and France,

which together accounted for 60 percent of global military spending.

In Central Europe, military spending grew by 12 percent compared with 2017 and by 35 percent compared with 2009, increases that SIPRI linked to growing perceptions of a threat from Russia.

Think Tank

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2019/04/29/russia-drops-out-of-top-5-defense-spending-countries-think-tank-a65418

World military expenditure grows to $1.8 trillion in 2018 | SIPRI

https://www.sipri.org/media/press-release/2019/world-military-expenditure-grows-18-trillion-2018