Russia Increased Military Outlay by 2.9% to $65.9 billion in Run-up to Ukraine War: SIPRI

Russia invested more in modernizing its military just before its invasion of Ukraine in comparison to previous years, data published by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) showed on Monday.

Global military spending topped $2 trillion for the first time ever in 2021, reaching $2.113 billion, up 0.7% from 2020, as expenditure rose for the seventh straight year.

Russia lifted its military outlay by 2.9% last year to $65.9 billion as it built up its forces along the Ukrainian border, influential defense think tank said. It was the third consecutive year of growth in Russia's military spending, which reached 4.1% of GDP in 2021.

"High oil and gas revenues helped Russia to boost its military spending in 2021," Lucie Beraud-Sudreau, Director of SIPRI's Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme, said in a statement. "Russian military expenditure had been in decline between 2016 and 2019 as a result of low energy prices combined with sanctions in response to Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014," she said.

Russia has remained in fifth spot in terms of global military spending, behind the U.S., China, India and the UK.

Meanwhile, Ukraine spent $5.9 billion on its military in 2021, less than one-tenth of Russia's budget. Also, the total military spending in Europe amounted to $418 billion and has been rising sharply since 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea. Military budgets rose 3% from 2020 and stood 19% higher than in 2012.