India Becomes World’s Fifth-Largest Military Spender as Global Defence Spending Hits Record $2.89 Trillion

India has become the world’s fifth-largest military spender, with its defence expenditure rising by 8.9 percent to $92.1 billion in 2025, according to the latest data released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. The SIPRI report shows that global military expenditure reached a record $2.887 trillion in 2025, marking the 11th consecutive year of growth and the highest level ever recorded by the institute.

According to SIPRI’s 2025 ranking, the United States remained the world’s largest military spender with expenditure of $954 billion, followed by China at an estimated $336 billion, Russia at $190 billion, Germany at $114 billion, and India at $92.1 billion. Together, these five countries accounted for 58 percent of total global military spending.

The top ten military spenders in 2025 were the United States, China, Russia, Germany, India, the United Kingdom, Ukraine, Saudi Arabia, France and Japan. SIPRI data shows that the top ten alone accounted for 72 percent of global military expenditure, underlining how defence spending remains heavily concentrated among a small group of major powers.

India’s rise to fifth place is significant because it reflects both long-term modernisation and immediate operational pressures. SIPRI noted that India’s military spending rose by 8.9 percent in 2025, while its expenditure over the decade from 2016 to 2025 increased by 39 percent. India’s military burden stood at 2.3 percent of GDP in 2025, and its share of global military spending was 3.2 percent.

SIPRI linked part of India’s spending increase to the May 2025 conflict with Pakistan, which involved the use of combat aircraft, drones and missiles. The report said revised capital outlays for military aircraft systems were 50 percent higher than originally budgeted, while operations and personnel costs for the Indian Air Force were revised upward by 18 percent from the original budget.

The global picture shows an increasingly militarised world. While the United States’ military spending fell by 7.5 percent in 2025, expenditure rose sharply in Europe and Asia. European military spending climbed 14 percent to $864 billion, while spending in Asia and Oceania increased 8.1 percent to $681 billion. SIPRI said the world’s military burden rose to 2.5 percent of global GDP, its highest level since 2009.

Russia remained the third-largest spender, increasing its military expenditure by 5.9 percent to $190 billion, equal to 7.5 percent of its GDP. Ukraine, ranked seventh, raised its military expenditure by 20 percent to $84.1 billion, equal to an extraordinary 40 percent of GDP, reflecting the continuing economic weight of the Russia-Ukraine war.

Germany’s jump to fourth place was another major development. Its military expenditure rose by 24 percent to $114 billion, pushing its military burden above 2 percent of GDP for the first time since 1990. This reflects Europe’s accelerating defence build-up amid the Ukraine war and uncertainty over long-term security guarantees.

For India, the SIPRI ranking confirms a wider strategic shift. The country is spending more not only to meet immediate security needs along sensitive borders, but also to modernise its air power, missile forces, naval assets, surveillance networks, drones, cyber capability and indigenous defence manufacturing base. With China ranked second and Pakistan also increasing military expenditure by 11 percent to $11.9 billion, India’s defence planning is increasingly shaped by a two-front security environment and the need for sustained technological readiness.

The SIPRI data therefore places India in a clear global context: it is now among the top five defence spenders in the world, but its expenditure remains far below that of the United States and China. The larger message is that military budgets are expanding across most regions, driven by wars, great-power rivalry, regional tensions and the race for advanced weapons. For India, the challenge will be to convert higher spending into faster procurement, stronger domestic production and more effective military capability.

Reference

https://www.sipri.org/publications/2026/sipri-fact-sheets/trends-world-military-expenditure-2025
https://www.sipri.org/sites/default/files/2026-04/2604_milex_2025.pdf
https://www.sipri.org/databases/milex