In 2024, global military spending reached $2.7 trillion, the highest level ever recorded, marking a 9% increase compared to 2023, the steepest rise since the end of the Cold War. According to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), if this trend continues, spending could reach $6.6 trillion by 2035.
The new United Nations report, The Security We Need: Rebalancing Military Spending for a Sustainable and Peaceful Future, denounces a drift away from the core principle of the UN Charter: maintaining peace “with the least diversion of the world’s human and economic resources to armaments.” UN Secretary-General António Guterres stressed: “The evidence is clear: excessive military spending does not guarantee peace; it often undermines it, fueling arms races, deepening mistrust and diverting resources from the very foundations of stability.”
The share of military spending in the global GDP rose from 2.2% in 2022 to 2.5% in 2024; its share of public budgets reached 7.1%. Over 100 countries increased defense funds. This trend diverts vital resources from education, health, and infrastructure, worsening public debt and limiting opportunities for future generations. In many low- and middle-income countries, a 1% increase in military spending corresponds to an almost equivalent cut in public health services, with serious risks for pandemic preparedness and other essential programs.
The report highlights a paradox: while military expenditures hit record highs, the world is seriously off track in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The annual financing gap already amounts to $4 trillion and could rise to $6.4 trillion. Yet even a fraction of military spending could bridge part of this gap: $93 billion a year (less than 4% of global military spending) would be enough to end hunger by 2030; $285 billion (about 10%) could ensure universal child vaccination; and with $5 trillion, it would be possible to finance 12 years of quality education for every child in low- and lower-middle-income countries.
UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu stressed the urgency of a “vision of human-centered and sustainable security, one that protects people and not just borders.” Reducing military spending does not mean losing jobs: equivalent investments in civilian sectors would create far more employment. According to the report, $1 billion spent on education generates over 26,000 jobs, more than twice the number created by the same amount in the military sector.
The challenge is not only ethical but also practical: every dollar spent on armaments is a dollar taken away from the fight against hunger, poverty, inequality, and the climate crisis. Without a radical recalibration of global priorities, 2030 risks becoming a symbolic date of collective failure rather than of shared progress.
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