British Think Tank: Global military expenditure increased by 3.9 % last years in

(London French New Dian) Annual report of the Institute of International Strategy (IISS) of the British Think Tank shows that although the crown disease epidemic has hit the world economy, it is affected by factors such as China's expansion of maritime military forces, and global military expenses still hit a new high last year.

According to this report, global military expenditure in 2020 increased by 3.9 % compared with 2019 to $ 1.8 trillion (approximately S $ 2.4 trillion).The United States is still the country with the highest defense expenditure in the world. Last year, military expenditure was as high as US $ 738 billion, accounting for 40 % of global defense expenditures, and it was nearly four times that of China and Russia.

Last year, China ’s defense expenditure increased by 5.2 % to 193.3 billion US dollars, accounting for a quarter of Asia's total, and 10.6 % of the global total.The report pointed out that China is continuing to promote military expansion, including continuously expanding the size of the naval fleet to safeguard its rights and interests in the South China Sea.

Asia's military expenditure has maintained an upward trend, but the increase is lower than 2019.The Institute of International Strategy said: "Several countries have adjusted national defense budgets and used funds to implement relief or economic stimulus measures."

Last year, European military expenditure increased by about 2 %.Among the European member states in NATO, British defense expenditure ranked first, reaching US $ 61.5 billion, followed by France (US $ 55 billion) and Germany (US $ 51.3 billion).The military expenditure of the three countries is equivalent to three times that of Russia.

The report pointed out that major European countries such as Britain, France, Germany, and Italy have planned to raise national defense budgets this year and the following years, showing that they want to avoid being forced to reduce military expenses due to the financial crisis from 2007 to 2008 from 2007 to 2008.Essence

Since Russia's annexation of Ukraine in 2014, many European countries have continuously raised national defense expenditures.NATO hopes that its member states will increase the proportion of military expenditures (GDP) to 2 % by 2024. However, most allies are far from reaching standards. Last year, only the Nine Kingdoms achieved this goal.