Global defense spending is set to surge in 2014 for the first time in years, fueled by bulging budgets in Asia, the Middle East and Russia, according to a new report.
IHS Jane’s, a global information forecaster, released its annual report and found that the growth in spending for all three regions will occur for the first time since 2009. The Middle East leads the pack with four of the five fastest-growing defense markets, Bloomberg News reported.
“Russia, Asia and the Middle East will provide the impetus behind the growth in global military spending expected this year and will drive the recovery projected from 2016 onwards,” Paul Burton, director of IHS Jane’s Aerospace, Defence and Security, said in the statement. That growth might be 0.6 percent — but it’s 0.6 percent on 1.538 trillion, which translates into $1.547 trillion for 2014 after adjusting for inflation.
According to the study, Oman and Saudi Arabia have increased their military budgets by more than 30 percent in the last two years. Saudi Arabia’s budget has tripled in 10 years, Bloomberg reported.
Russia, meanwhile, has pushed the U.K. out of the No. 3 slot for military spending, with plans to increase its budget by more than 44 percent within the next three years, the study showed. Russia spent $66.9 billion dollars on its security needs in 2013.
China’s military budget will jump from $139.2 billion in 2013 to $148 billion this year, according to the study, The New York Times reported. By the end of the year, the nation will spend more on its defense budget than Britain, France and Germany combined, IHS Janes said.
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The United States plans to spend $574 billion on its security needs in 2014, which is down from $664.3 billion in 2012, The Times reported.
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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