世界の軍事費「前例のない」増加 国際平和研

【ストックホルムＡＦＰ＝時事】２０２４年の世界の軍事支出は、戦争・紛争や緊張の高まりによって冷戦終結以来、最も大幅な伸びを示し、２．７兆ドル（約３８８兆円）に達した。特に大幅に増えたのは欧州と中東で、欧州では「前例のない」増加となった。スウェーデンのストックホルム国際平和研究所（ＳＩＰＲＩ）が２８日発表した最新報告書で明らかになった。（写真は資料写真）
　世界の軍事支出は前年比９．４％増で、１０年連続の増加となった。上位１５か国すべてを含む１００か国以上で、軍事予算が拡大した。
　全体の支出増を牽引したのはロシアを含む欧州地域で、１７％増の６９３０億ドル（約９９．５兆円）に達した。マルタを除くすべての欧州諸国で軍事予算は増加し、「冷戦終結時の水準を超えた」とＳＩＰＲＩは指摘した。
　■ウクライナ紛争の影響
　ウクライナ紛争の当事国、ロシアの軍事支出は３８％増の１４９０億ドル（約２１．４兆円）で、２０１５年との比較では倍増した。
　一方、ウクライナは２．９％増の６４７億ドル（約９．３兆円）。ロシアの４３％程度だが、ウクライナにとっては国内総生産（ＧＤＰ）の３４％に相当し、いずれの国よりも高い軍事費負担となっていることがうかがえる。
　また、ドイツは２８％増の８８５億ドル（約１２．７兆円）で、インドを抜き世界第４位となった。
　ＳＩＰＲＩの軍事支出および兵器生産プログラムの研究員シャオ・リャン氏は「ドイツは再統一以来初めて、中・西欧最大の支出国となった」と指摘した。
　世界最大の軍事支出国である米国は、５．７％増の９９７０億ドル（約１４３兆円）に達した。これは世界全体の３７％、北大西洋条約機構（ＮＡＴＯ）加盟国の６６％を占める。
　ＮＡＴＯ加盟３２か国はすべて増加し、全体で１．５兆ドル（約２１６兆円）となった。
　■中東・アジア
　中東でも軍事予算が急増し、全体で１５％増の推定２４３０億ドル（約３５兆円）となった。
　パレスチナ自治区ガザ地区への攻撃を続けるイスラエルは前年比６５％増の４６５億ドル（約６．７兆円）。ＳＩＰＲＩによると「１９６７年の六日戦争（第三次中東戦争）以来、年間で最も大幅な増加」を記録した。
　対照的にイランは「地域の紛争への関与と代理勢力への支援にもかかわらず」、１０％減の７９億ドル（約１．１兆円）にとどまった。「イランに対する制裁の影響が支出増加能力を著しく制限した」とＳＩＰＲＩは分析している。
　世界第２位の軍事支出国・中国の軍事予算は、７％増の推定３１４０億ドル（約４６兆円）と、「３０年連続で増加」した。
　中国は軍の近代化、サイバー戦能力の拡充、核兵器の増強に投資しており、アジア太平洋地域の軍事支出の半分を占めている。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2025/04/28-18:56）

Worldwide military expenditure saw its steepest rise in 2024 since the end of the Cold War, reaching $2.7 trillion as wars and rising tensions drove up spending, researchers said Monday.
Military spending rose worldwide with particularly large increases in Europe and the Middle East, according to a new report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
Several European countries had seen unprecedented rises in their military spending, the report noted.
In real terms, spending rose by 9.4 percent globally compared to 2023, with 2024 marking the 10th year of consecutive spending increases.
This was really unprecedented, Xiao Liang, a researcher with the SIPRI Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme, told AFP.
It was the highest year-on-year increase since the end of the Cold War.
While there may have been steeper increases during the Cold War, data for the Soviet Union is not available, Liang added.
More than 100 countries, including all of the 15 largest spenders, increased their military budgets last year, said the report.
- Profound impact -
This really speaks to the heightened geopolitical tensions, Liang said. The spending increase was likely to have a very profound socio-economic and political impact, he added.
Countries have to make trade-offs in their budgetary decisions, he said.
For example, we've seen many European countries cutting other spending like international aid to fund the increase in military spending, and... trying to raise taxes or rely on loans or debt to fund the spending, Liang said.
The main contributor to the rise in expenditure was the European region including Russia, where spending rose by 17 percent to $693 billion.
All European countries, except Malta, expanded their budgets, pushing European military spending beyond the level recorded at the end of the Cold War, SIPRI said.
Russia's military expenditure reached $149 billion in 2024: a 38-percent increase on the previous year and a doubling since 2015.
Ukraine's military spending grew by 2.9 percent to reach $64.7 billion.
While that sum only corresponds to 43 percent of Russia's arms spending, for Ukraine it is the equivalent of 34 percent of its GDP. That means it is carrying the highest military burden of any country.
- Germany rearming -
Germany's spending increased by 28 percent, reaching $88.5 billion, overtaking India as the fourth largest in the world.
Germany became the biggest spender in Central and Western Europe for the first time since its reunification, Liang noted.
The world's largest spender, the United States, increased expenditure by 5.7 percent, reaching $997 billion. That alone accounts for 37 percent of worldwide spending and 66 percent of the military spending among NATO countries.
Total military spending by the 32 members of the US-led alliance rose to 1.5 trillion as all members increased their spending.
We've seen in 2024 that 18 out of the 32 NATO countries reached the two-percent GDP spending target, which is the highest since the founding of the alliance, Liang said.
While some of the increases have been a result of European military aid to Ukraine, it has also been fuelled by concerns of potential US disengagement with the alliance.
There has really been a shift in European defence policies, where we will see large-scale procurement plans into the arms industry in the years to come, Liang explained.
Military budgets also drastically grew in the Middle East to an estimated $243 billion, an increase of 15 percent from 2023.
As Israel continued its offensive in Gaza, its military expenditure surged by 65 percent to $46.5 billion in 2024. SIPRI noted that this represented the steepest annual increase since the Six-Day War in 1967.
In contrast, Iran's fell by 10 percent to $7.9 billion in 2024, despite its involvement in regional conflicts and its support for regional proxies, the report added.
The impact of sanctions on Iran severely limited its capacity to increase spending, said SIPRI.
The world's second-largest spender, China, increased its military budget by 7.0 percent to an estimated $314 billion, marking three decades of consecutive growth.
China -- which has been investing in modernising its military and expansion of cyberwarfare capabilities and nuclear arsenal -- accounted for half of all military spending in Asia and Oceania.