New research has found that global defence spending broke records in 2025, driven by Europe, while the United States pulled back .
The new figures come from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, which found that the increase in geopolitical instability, with the continuation of war in Europe and the Middle East, as well as new conflicts, pushed global defence outlays to US$2.89 trillion.
This was a total increase of 2.9% since 2024, with Europe seeing an increase of 14% amd Asia and Oceania up by 8.1%.
However, in the United States, it declined, as the Trump administration continued to push for Europe to pour more support into their own militaries.
Russia, which remains at war with Ukraine, was the highest military spender in Europe, followed by Germany, which saw an expenditure increase of 24% compared to a year ago.
