昨年の世界軍事費、過去最高を更新　前年比では０．７％増　国際平和研

【ＡＦＰ＝時事】スウェーデンのシンクタンク、ストックホルム国際平和研究所（ＳＩＰＲＩ）は２５日、２０２１年の世界の軍事支出が前年比０．７％増加して２兆１０００億ドル（約２７０兆円）となり、過去最高額を更新したと発表した。（写真は２０２１年の世界の軍事支出）
　ＳＩＰＲＩは軍事費拡大の要因として、ロシアがウクライナ侵攻に先立ち軍備増強を進めた点を指摘。特に欧州では拡大傾向が続くと予想した。
　新型コロナウイルス禍に伴い経済が打撃を受ける中、各国は７年連続で軍備を増強した。
　ロシアの軍事費は２．９％増の６５９億ドル（約８兆４８００億円）となった。世界５位で、３年連続で拡大。昨年末にかけて急増した。
　国内総生産（ＧＤＰ）比では４．１％。ＳＩＰＲＩのディエゴ・ロペスダシルバ上席研究員は「世界平均を大幅に上回っている」と指摘。石油・天然ガスの輸出収入増加が軍事支出の拡大に寄与しているとしている。
　一方で、ウクライナへの軍事侵攻で西側諸国の制裁を受けたロシアがこの水準の軍事支出を維持できるのかは不透明だとロペスダシルバ氏は述べた。
　ウクライナの軍事費は５９億ドル（約７６００億円）だった。約８％減となったものの、ＧＤＰ比では３．２％。２０１４年のロシアによるクリミア半島併合後、軍事支出は７２％増加した。
　北大西洋条約機構（ＮＡＴＯ）に加盟する欧州諸国の間でも、緊張の高まりを背景に軍事支出を拡大する国が増えている。
　一方、米国は１．４％減となったが、額では８０１０億ドル（約１０３兆円）と、他国を大きく引き離している。研究開発費の減少幅は予想を下回り、「次世代技術」に注力していることがうかがえる。
　２位の中国は４．７％増の推定２９３０億ドル（約３７兆６６００億円）で、２７年連続の拡大となった。
　中国の軍備増強を受けて近隣諸国も防衛予算を拡大している。日本は７．３％増で、伸びは１９７２年以降で最大。オーストラリアも４％増加した。
　３位のインドは０．９％増の７６６億ドル（約９兆８４５０億円）。英国は３％増の６８４億ドル（約８兆７９００億円）で、サウジアラビアに代わって４位に浮上した。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2022/04/26-10:21）

Global military spending rose again in 2021, setting new records as Russia continued to beef up its military prior to its invasion of Ukraine, researchers said Monday, predicting the trend would continue in Europe in particular.
Despite the economic fallout of the global Covid pandemic, countries around the world increased their arsenals, with global military spending rising by 0.7 percent last year, according to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri).
In 2021 military spending rose for the seventh consecutive time to reach $2.1 trillion. That is the highest figure we have ever had, Diego Lopes da Silva, senior researcher at Sipri, told AFP.
Russia's spending grew by 2.9 percent -- the third year of consecutive growth -- to $65.9 billion.
Defence spending accounted for 4.1 percent of Russia's gross domestic product (GDP), much higher than the world average, and making Moscow the fifth largest spender in the world, Lopes da Silva said.
High oil and gas revenues helped the country boost military expenditure. Lopes da Silva noted that Russia saw a sharp uptick in spending towards the end of the year.
That happened as Russia amassed troops alongside the Ukrainian border preceding of course the invasion of Ukraine in February, the researcher said.
- Tougher sanctions -
Whether Russia would be able to sustain its spending was difficult to predict, Lopes da Silva said, due to the wave of sanctions imposed by the West in response to the aggression in Ukraine.
In 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea, the country was also targeted with sanctions at the same time as energy prices fell, making it difficult to gauge how effective sanctions were on their own.
Now... we have even tougher sanctions, that's for sure, but we have higher energy prices which can help Russia afford to maintain military spending at that level, Lopes da Silva said.
On the other side, Ukraine's military spending has risen by 72 percent since the annexation of Crimea. While spending declined by over eight percent in 2021 to $5.9 billion, it still accounted for 3.2 percent of Ukraine's GDP.
As tensions have increased in Europe, more NATO countries have stepped up spending.
Eight members countries last year reached the targeted two percent of GDP for spending, one fewer than the year before but up from only two in 2014, Sipri said.
Lopes da Silva said he expected spending in Europe to continue to grow.
The US, which far outspent any other nation with $801 billion, actually went against the global trend and decreased its spending by 1.4 percent in 2021.
- 'Technological edge' -
Over the past decade, US spending on research and development has risen by 24 percent while arms procurement has gone down by 6.4 percent.
While both decreased in 2021, the drop in research was not as pronounced, highlighting the country's focus on next-generation technologies.
The US government has repeatedly stressed the need to preserve the US military's technological edge over strategic competitors, Alexandra Marksteiner, another researcher at Sipri, said in a statement.
China, the world's second largest military spender at an estimated $293 billion, boosted its expenditure by 4.7 percent, marking the 27th straight year of increased spending.
The country's military buildup has in turn caused its regional neighbours to beef up their military budgets, with Japan adding $7 billion, an increase of 7.3 percent -- the highest annual increase since 1972.
Australia also spent four percent more on its military, reaching $31.8 billion in 2021.
India, the world's third largest spender at $76.6 billion, also increased funding in 2021, but by a more modest 0.9 percent.
The UK took over the number four spot, with a three percent increase in military spending to $68.4 billion, replacing Saudi Arabia which instead decreased spending by 17 percent to an estimated $55.6 billion.