Global defense spending rises to new record

A report from the Korea Institute for Defense Technology Planning and Development released on January 13 showed that total global defense spending in 2023 reached a new record of 2,443 billion USD, marking the ninth consecutive year of increase and an increase of more than 200 billion USD compared to the previous year.

The US is the country with the largest defense spending globally (accounting for 37%) with a spending of up to 916 billion USD.

The top countries with the largest defense spending in the world also include China (296 billion USD), Russia (109 billion USD), India (83.6 billion USD). Japan ranked 10th with 50.2 billion USD, followed by South Korea (47.9 billion USD).

South Korea's defense spending-to-GDP ratio (2.8%) is higher than most countries and territories in the Asia-Pacific region, surpassing Taiwan (China), Australia (1.9%), China (1.7%) and Japan (1.2%).

This rate also exceeds many members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) such as Germany and Canada, only lower than the US (3.4%), UK (2.3%) and France (2.1%).

South Korea has maintained defense spending at 2.8% of GDP since 2020, marking a steady increase from 2.5% of GDP in 2014.

This policy is aimed at dealing with the complicated regional security situation, in the context of the prolonged Russia-Ukraine conflict and increasing tensions in the Middle East.

Global defense spending is rising sharply as countries around the world, especially NATO members, reassess their defense budgets to deal with growing security threats. Ukraine, due to its protracted conflict, now spends 36.65% of its GDP on defense - the highest in the world.