Global weapons spending hits record levels

�US accounts for more than half total increase to $1.4tn
�China now second biggest spender in world league table

by Richard Norton-Taylor

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Worldwide spending on weapons has reached record levels amounting to well over $1tn last year, a leading research organisation reported today.

Global military expenditure has risen by 45% over the past decade to $1.46tn, according to the latest annual Yearbook on Armaments, Disarmament, and International Security published by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri).

Though the US accounts for more than half the total increase, China and Russia nearly tripled their military expenditure over the decade, with China now second only to the US in the military expenditure league table.

"China had both the largest absolute and the largest relative increase," says the Sipri report. The increase "has roughly paralleled its economic growth and is also linked to its major power aspirations," it adds.

Other regional powers, including India, Brazil and Algeria, also substantially increased their spending on arms, the report says.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jun/08/record-world-weapons-spending

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