Spending on weapons reached a record high in 2025. New data on military spending has been published by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). It writes a report every year called "Trends in World Military Expenditure". SIPRI stated that global defence spending was nearly $2.9 trillion last year. This was a three per cent rise compared to 2024. Spending on armed forces has now risen for eleven years in a row. Europe's defence spending shot up by 14 per cent, to $864 billion. The Asia-Oceania region increased its spending by 8.1 per cent, to $681 billion. The USA remained the biggest spender on defence. It spent $954 billion on its military last year.

There are several reasons for the record levels of spending in Europe. One reason is that all NATO members met their target to spend two per cent of their GDP on defence. Last year, NATO members agreed to a new target of five per cent by 2035. Another reason is the war between Russia and Ukraine. This conflict is now in its fifth year. Russia spent around $190 billion on defence. This was 7.5 per cent of its GDP. Ukraine spent an unbelievable 40 per cent of its GDP on the war. SIPRI said that the increased spending "really speaks to countries' reactions to ongoing wars, tensions and geopolitical uncertainty". It added: "This trend will probably continue through 2026 and beyond."