Photo from UNIAN
Experts estimate Kyiv's defense spending in 2020 at US$5.9 billion.
Ukraine in 2020 remained among the world's top 40 countries in terms of military spending, having climbed from the 35th to the 34th place in the SIPRI ranking.
That is according to new data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), as reported by the Ukrainian-language service of Germany's Deutsche Welle (DW) on April 26.
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In particular, Ukraine boosted military spending by 11% from 2019 and by 198% from 2011. Ukraine's defense spending in 2020 accounted for 4.1% of the state's GDP, while its share in military spending globally was 0.3%.
Top five military spenders worldwide
The United States traditionally tops the ranking, its military spending in 2020 rose by 4.4%, to US$778 billion. The U.S. accounted for 39% of total military expenditure in the past year.
China ranked second with military spending growing for the 26th consecutive years. In 2020, Beijing spent US$252 billion on arming and upgrading its military forces, which was 76% up from 2011.
India took the third place, with New Delhi's military spending growing 2.1% last year, to nearly US$73 billion.
It is followed by Russia. In 2020, Moscow spent US$61.7 billion on defense, which was 2.5% up from 2019 and 26% more than a decade ago.
The United Kingdom became the fifth largest spender in 2020 with a total of US$59.2 billion allocated for defense needs.
In general, despite the global COVID-19 pandemic, a military spending growth trend continued. This refers a record amount, that is, almost US$2 trillion (US$1.98 trillion).
Experts say global military spending in 2020 grew by 2.6% against 2019, while by 9.3% against 2011. At the same time, the share of countries' GDP allocated for defense has also increased from 2.2% in 2019 on the average to 2.4% in 2020.