Despite COVID-19, Asia's Military Spending Increased Last Year... Up 4.3% Compared to Previous Year

25% of Global Military Spending... Majority by China
Intensified Military Competition from China... India Allocates Over 18% of Budget

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Hyun-woo] Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, military spending across the entire Asia region increased by more than 4% compared to the previous year. Centered on China, which increased its defense budget by over 5%, most Asian countries saw a rise in military expenditures. India, which had border disputes with China last year, reportedly allocated more than 18% of its budget to military expenses.

According to The Diplomat, a US foreign affairs magazine, on the 4th (local time), a recent report by the UK think tank International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) showed that Asia's defense budgets increased by 4.3% last year compared to the previous year, more than double the global average growth rate of 2.08%. The global defense budget last year was approximately $1.83 trillion (about 2,584 trillion KRW), with Asia accounting for 25% of the global defense spending, IISS stated.

Among Asian countries, China recorded the highest defense budget growth rate at 5.2% compared to the previous year. Although this is lower than the 5.9% growth in 2019, The Diplomat noted that considering the global economy contracted by 4.4% due to COVID-19, this decrease is not significant. Excluding China, the defense budget growth rate of other Asian countries slightly declined from 3.8% in 2019 to 3.6% last year.

In particular, India, which had border disputes with China in May and June last year, allocated a significant portion of its budget to defense spending despite severe economic difficulties. India's defense budget increased by 1.4% compared to the previous year but accounted for 18.8% of the total budget, making it the largest single budget item. According to World Bank (WB) data, India's GDP growth rate last year was -3.2%, and during the peak of the COVID-19 crisis in the second quarter, it recorded -9.6%, marking the worst growth rate in history.