Europe’s rearmament push drives global military spending to record $2.9 trillion despite U.S. pullback

Israeli air defence systems are activated to intercept Iranian missiles over the Israeli city of Tel Aviv early on June 18, 2025. Menahem Kahana | AFP | Europe ramped up military spending in 2025 — a longstanding demand of U.S. President Donald Trump — helping drive global defense outlays to a staggering $2.89 trillion, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute . Major rearmament programs in Asia also pushed global defense spending higher for an 11th straight year in 2025, SIPRI said in a report published Monday. SIPRI said the increase was fueled by "another year of wars, uncertainty and geopolitical upheaval with large-scale armament drives." Global military spending as a share of GDP climbed to 2.5%, its highest level since 2009, the report showed. Europe was the main driver of the increase in global spending, with spending rising 14% to $864 billion. Excluding Russia, Germany was the region's largest military spender , with expenditure climbing 24% from a year ago to $114 billion. Berlin's military burden exceeded NATO's guideline of 2% GDP for the first time since 1990 — reaching 2.3% in 2025 — a benchmark alliance members are encouraged to meet. Spain's military spending jumped 50% to $40.2 billion, bringing its defense burden above 2% of GDP for the first time since the NATO spending target was agreed in 1994. In June 2025, NATO members, except Spain, had outlined a long-term goal to raise defense spending to 5% of GDP by 2025. …