Romania: first in world for 2017 military spending increase
Poland largest spender in Central Europe in 2017
02 May, 13:44SIPRI said that the sharp rise in Romania was due to the country "starting to implement its military procurement, modernization and expansion plan for 2017-26." SIPRI noted also a rise in military expenditure in Central Europe in 2017, "driven by the perceived threat from Russia felt by many countries" in the region. Russia, however, recorded a -20% in military spending in 2017 - the first time it fell since 1998 - making it the fourth largest military spender in the world after the United States, China and Saudi Arabia. In 2017, military spending in Central Europe rose by 12% year-on-year, SIPRI said. The spending in 2017 in Central Europe was USD 24.1 billion. "Military spending has now risen for four consecutive years following six consecutive annual decreases between 2008 and 2013", SIPRI added.
Other significative increases were registered in Latvia and Lithuania (+21%).
In 2017, Poland was largest military spender in Central Europe, accounting for 42 per cent of the total in the region. Due almost entirely to the fall in Russian military expenditure, military spending fell in Eastern Europe in 2017, by 18 per cent to $72.9 billion, SIPRI said. It was the the first annual decrease since 2008.
Global military spending rose 1.1 percent increase compared to 2016. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute is an independent institute researching into conflict, armaments, arms control and disarmament. Its 'Military Expenditure Database' provides military expenditure data for the years 1949-2017.
(ANSA).