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Current Affairs

Trump factor drives up Asia-Pacific military spending at fastest pace since 2009

Military spending in the Asia-Pacific rose at the fastest pace for 16 years in 2025 as US allies felt “growing uncertainty” over whether Washington would…

By Samantha Johnson / April 26, 2026
Military spending in the Asia-Pacific rose at the fastest pace for 16 years in 2025 as US allies felt “growing uncertainty” over whether Washington would honour its security commitments, according to a new report.

Total global spending reached US$2.89 trillion, an increase of 2.9 per cent from 2024, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) think tank said in its annual report on military expenditure published Monday.

That marked the 11th consecutive year of increases and brought the global military burden to 2.5 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), the highest since 2009.

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The top three military spenders – the United States, mainland China and Russia – spent a combined total of US$1.48 trillion, just over half of the global total.

However, the global expansion in 2025 was slower than the 9.7 per cent figure recorded the year before, mostly due to a decline in US spending.

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SIPRI said the 7.5 per cent drop to US$954 billion was caused by Washington not approving any new military aid for Ukraine.

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