Last year, global military expenditure reached 2.7 trillion dollars, a 9% increase over 2023 and the highest since the Cold War. The trend of strengthening investment in militarization is putting humanity’s future at risk by diverting funds that should be channeled toward peace and sustainable development.
The conclusion comes from a report released by the Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN), António Guterres, which predicts that, if this trajectory continues, global military expenditure could reach 6.6 trillion dollars in 2035. This annual figure would be almost five times higher than what was recorded in 1991, at the end of the Cold War, and more than double what was invested in 2024.
“While global security continues to deteriorate despite this rising investment, this upward trajectory also coincides with a dramatic lag in progress toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and with a marked deterioration of the environment,” the UN says in a statement.
According to the report, global development assistance fell 7.1% in 2024, and there is currently a financing gap of about four trillion dollars in the required funding.
“At this critical moment, the international community must confront the hard reality that the increase in military spending is not bringing more peace, but is weakening our shared vision for a sustainable future,” warns Guterres.
The report also presents a series of recommendations aimed at attenuating the global growth trend in military expenditures in favor of achieving sustainable development.
Among them are the prioritization, by 2030, of diplomacy, peaceful conflict resolution, and measures to address the causes of the rise in military investment; the promotion of transparency in military spending to build trust among member states; and the strengthening of the multilateral framework for development finance.
Leonie Hopgood, from the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs, recalls that for a decade global military expenditures have been rising continuously and that this “leaves less money to end hunger, poverty and inequality, and less money to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.”
The expert notes that reinvesting 15% of global military expenditure “is more than enough to cover the annual costs of climate adaptation in developing countries.”
“True security is not achieved through weapons. It is achieved through education, health care and a clean environment,” she declares.
