India was the world’s fifth-largest military spender in 2025 – after the US, China, Russia and Germany – accounting for 3.2% of global military spending last year, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said in a report published on Monday.
According to the report, Indian military spending reached $92.1 billion last year, an increase of 8.9% over the previous year. When India launched Operation Sindoor against Pakistan last year, the armed forces made a host of emergency procurements to remain battle-ready.
SIPRI data suggests that India’s neighbors have also increased their military spending: China, the world’s second-largest military spender, increased its spending by 7.4% to $336 billion; Pakistan’s military spending increased by 11% to $11.9 billion, ranking thirty-first out of the forty countries on the list.
The top three military spenders – the United States, China and Russia – spent a combined $1,480 billion, or 51% of the global total, the report said, adding that global military spending rose to $2,887 billion in 2025. “The main contributor to the global increase in military spending in 2025 was Europe’s 14% rise to $864 billion. Russia and Ukraine’s spending continued to grow in the fourth year of the war in Ukraine, while Global military spending continued to grow in the fourth year of the war in Ukraine. The report said ongoing rearmament efforts by European NATO members have led to the largest annual growth in spending in Central and Western Europe since the end of the Cold War.
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The latest report comes at a time when India’s arms imports have declined.
India’s arms imports fell by 4% between 2016-2020 and 2021-2025, but the country remains the world’s second-largest importer of military equipment, accounting for 8.2% of global arms imports, said a SIPRI report published in March.
The report on “Trends in International Arms Transfers” said that India’s arms imports are driven by tensions with China and Pakistan.
The March report, which compared data over two five-year periods, said that over the past decade, India has shifted its arms ties away from Russia toward Western suppliers, especially France, Israel and the United States. “The largest share of Indian arms imports during 2021-2025 came from Russia, at 40% – a much lower share than in 2016-2020 (51%) and almost half in 2011-2015 (70%). India is increasingly turning to Western suppliers.”
Russia, France and Israel are the largest suppliers of military equipment to India.
On February 1, India raised its defense spending by more than 15% on the back of Operation Sindoor, with the exception of… $7.85 lakh crore for critical sector in the Union Budget 2026-27, including capital expenditure of $2.19 lakh crores to enhance the capabilities of the Armed Forces with new weapons and systems including fighter jets, transport aircraft, helicopters, warships, submarines, artillery guns, smart weapons, missiles, rocket-propelled grenades and a variety of unmanned systems.
