Bericht des internationalen Friedensforschungsinstituts Sipri zu den weltweiten Militärausgaben, 14.4.2014 (engl. Originalfassung)
A total of 23 countries have doubled their military spending in real terms since 2004 (excluding countries that spent less than $100 million in 2013— see figure 4). What is striking about these countries is their diversity and the variety of reasons behind their increases, where a reason can be discerned. The countries are in all regions and subregions apart from North America, Western and Central Europe, and Oceania.
Nearly all of the 23 countries display at least one of three characteristics:
- very strong economic growth,
- high oil or gas revenues, or
- significant armed conflict or other violence.
In all cases, growth of military spending over the period was higher than growth in GDP (both in real terms). Economic growth is a clear driver in some cases, such as China and Angola, but others countries have increased military spending on the basis of much weaker growth records.
A factor common to many of the countries is a high level of revenue from oil and gas exports— in some cases, such as Ghana, recently discovered or exploited. This resource provides a ready source of income for the state that does not require taxing the general population. However, the presence of such natural resouces can generate new security concerns, either internal or external. Poor governance of the revenues from natural resources may also be a factor that tends to favour the diversion of those revenues to military uses.
Many of the 23 countries have experienced armed conflict over the period or dangerous ongoing frozen conflicts, such as that between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The most striking example of a large rise in military expenditure is Afghanistan (see box 1). While there is no state-based armed conflict in the case of Honduras, the homicide rate there is among the highest in the world. However, some of the countries, such as Ecuador, Kazakhstan, Namibia, Paraguay and Swaziland, enjoy essentially peaceful security environments.
THE SIPRI MILITARY EXPENDITURE DATABASE
The SIPRI Military Expenditure Database provides military expenditure data by country for the years 1988–2013
- in local currency, at current prices,
- in US dollars, at constant (2012) prices and exchange rates, and
- as a share (%) of gross domestic product (GDP).
SIPRI military expenditure data is based on open sources only, including a SIPRI questionnaire that is sent out annually to governments. The collected data is processed to achieve consistent time series which are, as far as pos- sible, in accordance with the SIPRI definition of military expenditure.
The database is available at <http://www.sipri.org/databases/milex/>.
The definition of military expenditure
Where possible, SIPRI military expenditure data includes all current and capital expenditure on
- the armed forces, including peacekeeping forces,
- defence ministries and other government agencies engaged in defence
- projects,
- paramilitary forces, when judged to be trained and equipped for military
- operations, and
- military space activities.
Such expenditure should include
- military and civil personnel, including retirement pensions of military personnel and social services for personnel,
- operations and maintenance,
- procurement,
- military research and development, and
- military aid (in the military expenditure of the donor country).
Civil defence and current expenditure on previous military activities—such as veterans’ benefits, demobilization, conversion and weapon destruction— are excluded.
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