According to a study by Forecast International in 2023 global defense spending grew at its fastest pace in the last decade as governments respond to security crises unfolding around the world.
According to Forecast International’s Global Defense Spending annual snapshot, “The Russian invasion of Ukraine, begun on February 24, 2022, continues to serve as a major impetus for European defense spending growth, as countries on the continent embark on multiyear modernization projects. The security environment in the Middle East, meanwhile, was thrown into turmoil after Hamas launched attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, resulting in a major Israeli offensive into the Gaza Strip. In wake of the October attacks, Iranian-backed militias around the region have fired missiles and drones at military installations and commercial shipping, stoking concern of wider conflagration.”
Defense One, a sister brand of Forecast International, adds that military outlays jumped 10.4 percent in 2023 on strong growth from nearly all of the top spenders, bringing the global total above $2 trillion for the first time.
The report concludes that,
“… a new dawn in security approach and military spending is emerging across Australia, the European continent, Japan, Southeast Asia, and Taiwan, according to the report, entitled “Global Defense Spending Annual Snapshot.” The result will be a period of intense defense investment and procurement into the mid-2020s – and possibly out to 2030. Countries ranging from Canada to the Netherlands to Poland are looking to recapitalize and improve their capabilities, while Sweden, Finland, and the Baltics are revisiting, refining, and improving their whole-of-government security approaches.”
The primary focus of the spending has been on fighting a conventional peer-to-peer war as opposed to increasing counterinsurgency capabilities as was done over the last decade plus.
