欧州軍事費、冷戦時代並みに　国際平和研

【ストックホルムＡＦＰ＝時事】２０２２年の欧州の軍事費はロシアによるウクライナ侵攻後、冷戦時代並みの高水準に増加した。スウェーデンのストックホルム国際平和研究所（ＳＩＰＲＩ）が２４日、発表した。（図解は２０２２年の軍事費が最も高い４０か国）
　ＳＩＰＲＩによると、欧州の軍事費増を受けて世界全体の軍事費も２兆２４００億ドル（約３００兆円）と８年連続で過去最高を更新した。これは、世界の国内総生産の２．２％に相当する。
　ＳＩＰＲＩのナン・ティアン上級研究員はＡＦＰに、「ウクライナ紛争が欧州の軍事費を押し上げているほか、東アジアにおける米中間の緊張の高まりも押し上げ要因となっている」と指摘した。
　ＳＩＰＲＩによれば、昨年の欧州の軍事費は前年比１３％増だが、インフレ率は考慮されていないため、実際の支出はさらに多いとみられる。
　増加幅は３０年超ぶりの大きさとなった。為替相場の変動を排除して算定すると、欧州の軍事費は「ベルリンの壁」が崩壊した１９８９年と同水準となる。
　国別では、米国が世界の軍事費の３９％を占め、２位の中国（１３％）と合わせると、２か国で半分以上を占めている。
　３位以下はロシア（３．９％）、インド（３．６％）、サウジアラビア（３．３％）の順。
　６位は英国で、欧州では最大の３．１％。ドイツは２．５％、フランスは２．４％だった。いずれも対ウクライナ支援額が含まれる。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2023/04/24-17:16）

Europe's military spending grew at a record pace in 2022, reaching a level unseen since the Cold War following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, global security researchers said Monday.
The rise in Europe helped global military expenditures reach an eighth straight record at $2.24 trillion, or 2.2 percent of the world's gross domestic product, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
It's driven by the war in Ukraine, (which is) driving European budget spending upwards, but also the unresolved and worsening tensions in East Asia between the US and China, researcher Nan Tian, one of the study's co-authors, told AFP.
Europe spent 13 percent more on its armies in 2022 than in the previous 12 months, in a year marked by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The figure does not take into account sharp inflation rates, which means actual spending was even higher, the think tank said.
That was the strongest increase in more than 30 years, and a return, in constant dollars, to the level of spending in 1989 when the Berlin Wall fell.
In Europe, it is at its highest level since essentially the end of the Cold War, Tian said.
Ukraine alone increased its spending seven-fold to $44 billion, or a third of its GDP. The country has additionally benefitted from billions of dollars of weapons donations from abroad, SIPRI noted.
At the same time, Russian spending rose by 9.2 percent last year, estimates showed.
Irrespective of whether you remove the two warring nations, European spending has still has increased by quite a lot, Tian said.
Spending in Europe, which totalled $480 billion in 2022, has already risen by a third in the past decade, and the trend is expected to continue and accelerate over the next decade.
The continent could potentially see growth levels similar to 2022 for several years, Tian said.
After declining sharply in the 1990s, global military expenditure has been on the rise since the 2000s.
The upturn was initially the result of China's massive investments in its military, which was then followed by renewed tensions with Russia after its annexation of Crimea in 2014.
- US, China account for half -
The US alone accounted for 39 percent of global military expenditure. Together with China, which came in second at 13 percent, the two nations accounted for more than half of the world's military spending.
Those next in line lagged far behind, with Russia at 3.9 percent, India at 3.6 percent and Saudi Arabia at 3.3 percent.
China has been increasingly investing in its naval forces as a way to expand its reach to Taiwan of course, then further out than the South China Sea, Tian said.
Japan, as well as Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and Australia are all following the trend.
Britain is the top spender in Europe, coming in sixth place overall and accounting for 3.1 percent of global expenditures, ahead of Germany at 2.5 percent and France at 2.4 percent -- figures which include donations to Ukraine.
Britain, Ukraine's second-biggest donor behind the United States, spends more than France and Germany. It also gave more military aid than France and Germany, said Tian.
Countries like Poland, the Netherlands and Sweden were among the European countries that increased their military investments the most during the past decade.
Modern and costly weapons also explain some spending hikes, as in the case of Finland which last year purchased 64 US F-35 fighter jets.