Azerbaijan ranks fifth for military spending share in GDP, SIPRI confirms

Azerbaijan came in at number five for the share of military spending in gross domestic product (GDP), the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) revealed in its new publication.

According to the “Trends in World Military Expenditure, 2021” report, military expenditure in Azerbaijan account for 5.3 percent of the GDP, putting the country on 5th spot behind Oman, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Algeria.

The overall military spending in the world settled at $2.1 trillion in 2021 increasing by 0.7 percent from 2020 and 12 percent from 2012, according to SIPRI. The United States, China, India, the United Kingdom, and Russia accounted for a combined 62 percent of global defence expenditures.

Azerbaijan allocated nearly 4.5 billion manats or slightly more than $2.6 billion to defence and national security purposes both in 2021 and 2022. In 2021, 1.9 billion manats or $1.1 billion were assigned to the defence forces, while in 2022 it reached nearly 2.2 billion manats or $1.3 billion.

The country reportedly has the largest military budget in the South Caucasus region.