Edit... Dina El Sheriff

Researchers have stated that worldwide military spending rose to nearly $2 trillion in 2020, in defiance of the economic impact of the Corona epidemic.

Global military spending rose by 2.6% to $1.981 billion (about €1.650 billion) in 2020, when world GDP shrank by 4.4%, according to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

Diego López da Silva, one of the authors of the report, stated that the development was unexpected. "Because of the epidemic, one might think that military spending will decline."

He also warned that, given the nature of military spending, States might take time to "adapt to the shock."

The fact that military spending continued to increase over a year with the economic downturn means that the "military burden," or share of military spending in gross domestic product, has also increased.

The total share rose from 2.2 per cent to 2.4 per cent, the largest increase on an annual basis since the financial crisis in 2009.

As a result, more NATO members achieved the alliance's guiding goal of spending at least 2% of GDP on their army, with 12 countries doing so in 2020 compared to 9 in 2019.

However, there were indications that the epidemic had infected some countries. States such as Chile and South Korea have publicly decided to reallocate military funds in response to the epidemic.

Da Silva explained: "Other countries, such as Brazil and Russia, have not explicitly said that this has been reallocated because of the epidemic, but have spent significantly less than their original 2020 budget."

López da Silva noted that many countries responded to the economic crisis of 2008-2009 by adopting austerity measures, but that "this time this may not be the case."

To date, the United States and China have been the world's largest spending countries, with Washington accounting for 39 per cent of total spending and Beijing for 13 per cent.

China's military spending rose alongside its growing economy and saw an increase for 26 consecutive years, reaching an estimated $252 billion in 2020.

The United States also increased its spending for the third consecutive year in 2020, after seven years of cuts.

For her part, Alexandra Marksteiner, another author of the report, stated in a statement: "This reflects growing concerns about perceived threats from strategic competitors such as China and Russia.