Trump factor drives up Asia-Pacific military spending at fastest pace since 2009

Military spending in the Asia-Pacific rose at the fastest pace for 16 years in 2025 as U.S. allies felt “growing uncertainty” over whether Washington would honour its security commitments, according to a new report. Total global spending reached $2.89 trillion, an increase of 2.9 percent from 2024, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) think tank said in its annual report on military expenditure published Monday. That marked the 11th consecutive year of increases and brought the global military burden to 2.5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), the highest since 2009. The top three military spenders — the United States, mainland China and Russia — spent a combined total of $1.48 trillion, just over half of the global total. However, the global expansion in 2025 was slower than the 9.7 percent figure recorded the year before, mostly due to a decline in U.S. spending. SIPRI said the 7.5 percent drop to $954 billion was caused by Washington not approving any new military aid for Ukraine. “In 2025, the U.S. continued to prioritise investment in its nuclear

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