With an expenditure of $11.4 billion, Pakistan was the 20th largest military spender in the world in 2018, a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) revealed Wednesday.
According to the report, the country’s expenditure that constitutes of four per cent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP), is the highest level of military spending by Islamabad since 2004.
“Pakistan’s military spending has increased every year since 2009. It rose by a whopping 73 per cent between 2009 and 2018, and by 11 per cent in just one year [between 2017 and 2018],” the report said.
Despite the fact that Pakistan is not among the top 10 countries having the highest “military burden”, its military is among the strongest in the world.
As for other countries, the United States (US) remained the top military spender with $649 billion in 2018, which, by the way, decreased by 17 per cent in the past 10 years.
The second major military spender is China with $250 billion, followed by Saudi Arabia with $67.6 billion and India with $66.5 billion. Spending $63.8 billion, France clinched the fifth spot on the list.
The report further stated that India’s military spending increased by 3.1 per cent between 2017-2018 amid heightened tensions with Pakistan and China. New Delhi’s military burden, however, was the lowest since the 1960s.
