World military expenditure rose by 3.7% in real terms in 2022 to more than 2.2 trillion USD, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said in a statement.
European military spending shot up 13% last year, primarily due to increases by Russia and Ukraine, but with many countries across the continent also ramping up military budgets and planning for more amid the surging tensions.
Ukraine's military spending rose 640% in 2022, the largest annual increase recorded in SIPRI data going back to 1949.
Though the United States was the world's top spender by far its overall expenditure rose only marginally in real terms. Meanwhile, Russia's military spending grew by an estimated 9.2%.