Asia Now Leads The World In Military Spending

On Tuesday, February 4, IHS Jane’s revealed that defense spending among Asian countries is on the rise. While the United States maintains the largest annual defense budget, the most dramatic increases are in Asia.

IHS Jane’s, a leading research and analytics firm, believes this trend will cause the Asia-Pacific to overtake the EU’s defense spending by next year. After all, the main NATO allies–except Turkey–are in the process of trimming their military budgets.

Though IHS Jane’s mentioned how current figures are connected with economic growth, it did single out China, India, Russia, and Saudi Arabia as countries that are investing heavily on their militaries.

Or, in other words, rearming.

In the case of Saudi Arabia, together with its southern neighbor Oman, it appears the kingdom is anticipating a regional war with Iran.

Take note that based on the list below, nine of the countries are in Asia. Five of them are in the Top 10.

Top Twenty (20)  Ranking

Defence Budget Ranking 2013

RANK/COUNTRY	$ (MILLIONS)
1. United States	582,424
2. China	139,203
3. Russian Federation	68,887
4. United Kingdom	58,854
5. Japan	56,842
6. France	53,091
7. India	46,183
8. Germany	44,688
9. Saudi Arabia	42,858
10. South Korea	31,561
11. Brazil	29,556
12. Australia	29,444
13. Italy	27.790
14. Turkey	20,618
15. Canada	19,636
16. Taiwan	14,834
17. Spain	13,199
18. Colombia	13,190
19. Israel	13,097
20. Algeria	10,778

Source: IHS Jane’s Aerospace, Defence & Security