The worst economic crisis of decades or the loss of 3 million lives due to an epidemic that knocked the world out could not have affected the military spending of the major powers.

Data released this Sunday by the International Peace Research Institute (Sweden), which serve as a global reference, reveals that nearly $ 2 trillion was spent in 2020, an increase of 2.6% over 2019.

The top five investors in 2020, which accounted for 62% of global military spending, are the United States, China, India, Russia and the United Kingdom. China’s military spending has grown for 26 consecutive years.

This increase is in line with the 4.4 per cent decline in world GDP. As a result, military spending as part of GDP averaged 2.4 percent of the global average in 2020, up from 2.2 percent in 2019. This is the largest annual increase since the 2009 global financial crisis.

The Institute points out that while global military spending has increased, some countries have reevaluated a portion of their planned military spending in the face of epidemics such as Chile and South Korea.

Costs are declining in Brazil

In South America, military spending fell 2.1 percent, while Brazil cut its spending by 3.1 percent. As a result, Brazil has begun to represent only 1% of the world’s military spending, dropping two places in the government rankings. In 2019, Brazil was ranked 13th. It is currently ranked 15th, with $ 19.7 billion for the region.

“The financial cost of pandemic seems to have been affected,” the study says. According to the Institute, the Brazilian military received only 88% of the budgeted resources.

On a global average, costs remained high. “We can say for sure that by 2020 the pandemic will not have a significant impact on global military spending,” said Diego Lപ്pez da Silva, a researcher with the Institute’s arms and military spending plan. “It remains to be seen whether countries will sustain these military spending in the second year of the epidemic,” he asks.

This increase is due to the still high cost in the USA and China. “US military spending in 2020 reached $ 778 billion, an increase of 4.4 percent over 2019,” he said.

“As the world’s largest military spender, the United States will account for 39 percent of total military spending in 2020,” he said. This is the third consecutive year of U.S. military spending after seven consecutive years of cuts, ”he explained.

“The recent increase in U.S. military spending is mainly due to investments in research and development, as well as a number of long-term plans, such as upgrading the U.S. nuclear arsenal and acquiring large-scale weapons,” said researcher Alexandra Markssteiner. Institute’s weapons and military spending program.

“It reflects growing concerns about threats from strategic rivals, such as China and Russia, and the Trump administration’s efforts to view itself as a weak U.S. military.” Found.

The survey also shows that China’s military spending, the world’s second largest, will reach $ 252 billion by 2020. “This is an increase of 1.9 per cent over 2019 and 76 per cent in 2011-20,” he said.

“China’s spending has risen for 26 consecutive years, the largest in a series of steady increases in any country.

Nan Tian, ​​a researcher at the institute, points out that the continued growth in Chinese spending in line with the declared desire to reach out to other major military powers is due to the country’s long-term modernization and military expansion plans. “