Russia dropped out of the top three military spending – RBC

The nuclear aircraft carrier George Washington, the US

Photo: global Look Press

For the first time since 2011 recorded an increase of global military spending, should be of SIPRI report. The leader in this spending are still the United States, Russia dropped to fourth place

World military expenditure amounted in 2015 to nearly $ 1.7 trillion, increasing by 1%. Such data are contained in a new report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

The report notes that this is the first increase in global military spending since 2011. The increase was mainly due to the Asian and Oceania countries, Eastern and Central Europe and the Middle East.

There is still a leader in military spending by the end of 2015 left the United States, despite the fact that Washington has cut its military spending by 2.4%, to $ 596 billion (36% of global spending). In second place – China, whose spending rose by 7.4%, to $ 215 billion (13% in general expenditure). On the third line settled Saudi Arabia, its costs have grown by 5.7%, to $ 87.2 billion (5.2% of all global military spending ). At this point it is replaced Russia, which now occupies the fourth place, having increased in 2015 military spending by 7.5%, to $ 66.4 billion (4% of global spending).

Institute experts say that Russian military expenditures in 2015 were actually lower than originally planned in the budget. This was due to the fall in oil prices and the economic sanctions, the SIPRI experts say.

Western European countries reduced their military spending by 1.3% in 2015, but this is the lowest annual decline for the states of the the region since 2010. Britain, France and Germany had previously stated that in the coming years will significantly increase military spending because of fears about Russia and threats by the “Islamic State” (an organization banned in Russia), according to the report.

Central European countries showed an increase in military spending by 13%, with the biggest growth showed the state in the immediate vicinity of Russia and Ukraine. It is Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. Total Central and Western Europe showed a decline in military spending to 0,2%

«Military spending in 2015 showed contrasting trends” -. Said the head of SIPRI project on military Pumping capacity Sam Perlo-Freeman. “On the one hand, expenditure trends reflect the escalation of conflict and tension in many parts of the world. On the other hand, they show a clear weakening of the oil-fueled growth in military spending over the last decade. This volatile economic and political situation creates an uncertain picture for the coming years “, – he added.