SIPRI rating: Ukraine enters top ten countries for military spending for the first time
Ukraine's military spending in 2023 due to the hostilities increased by 51% to $64.8 billion, or 34% of GDP. Thanks to this, it rose from 11th place to 8th in the world ranking in nominal terms, according to a report published on Monday by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
According to the ratio of military expenditures to GDP, Ukraine ranks first by a huge margin. Second placed Lebanon has military spending of only 8.9% of GDP.
"As Ukraine has allocated more and more of its resources to the military, it has become increasingly reliant on international financial assistance to cover the funding gap for non-military matters. This funding gap reached an estimated $40 billion in 2023. The EU and US financial assistance packages provided to Ukraine in 2022 and 2023 have been critical to freeing up resources for Ukraine to allocate to its military," the report reads.
| No | Country | $ billion | % of GDP |
| 1 | USA | 916 | 3.4% |
| 2 | China | 296 | 1.7% |
| 3 | Russia | 109 | 5.9% |
| 4 | India | 83.6 | 2.4% |
| 5 | Saudi Arabia | 75.8 | 7.1% |
| 6 | United Kingdom | 74.9 | 2.3% |
| 7 | Germany | 66.8 | 1.5% |
| 8 | Ukraine | 64.8 | 37% |
| 9 | France | 61.3 | 2.1% |
| 10 | Japan | 50.2 | 1.2% |
Russia's military expenditures increased by 24% to $109 billion, or 5.9%.
But taking into account the military aid received by Ukraine ($35 billion), they are not much larger than Ukrainian expenditures.
World military spending in 2023 will reach $2.44 trillion, increasing by a record 6.8% since 2009.
Last year's rating can be viewed here.
In 2023, Ukraine became the largest importer of weapons in the world.
In 2023, Ukraine became the largest arms importer in the world.
In 2023, Ukraine became the largest arms importer in the world.
