India 5th largest spender on military, Pakistan nowhere near

The USA leads the race for spending money on its military.  Many oil-rich countries have reduced their military expenditure. 

According to a recent report released by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), India is world's fifth highest spender on the military. The report published on April 24, stated that India’s expenditure on military in 2016 was ₹55.9 billion which is 8.5 percent higher than the previous year. 

Here are the important pointers of the report that covers military expenditure of the world from 1988 to 2016. 

1.    The world expenditure on the military has risen for the second consecutive year and in 2016, the total expenditure was ₹1686 billion. 

2.    World military expenditure last year accounted for 2.2 percent of global GDP.

3.    The USA leads the race for spending money on its military with $611 billion spent last year which is a 1.7 percent hike from 2015.

4.    The USA is followed by China with $215 billion spent on military last year. However, the growth rate of expenditure is much lower as compared to the previous years. 

5.    Russia took Saudi Arabia’s position of the previous year and came third. With 5.6 percent rise, Russia spent $69.2 billion in its military in 2016. Saudi Arabia during that period spent $69.2 billion. 

6.    The expenditure on military in the Western Europe has witnessed a hike for the second consecutive year, especially in the central European countries. This is due to the growing threat posed by Russia.

7.    Interestingly, many oil-rich countries have reduced their military expenditure mainly because of fall in oil revenue and other economic problems. 

8.     Also, there is no estimate of military expenditure on the Middle East as no data is available of leading spenders including UAE.