The World is Becoming More Militarized: Military Budgets of Different Countries

It is no secret that the modern world is becoming increasingly militarized, and wars and various conflicts do not converge efforts towards achieving true and universal peace but rather fragment the world and its actors, who continue to increase their defense spending, raise military budgets, and intensify the arms race, creating a looming threat of a Third World War, writes Hraparak.

Below are the military budgets of various countries planned for 2023.

Military Budget of Armenia to Increase by 47% in 2023

According to the draft state budget for 2023, the Armenian government plans to increase the defense budget by more than 47% next year. It will amount to 501.3 billion drams in 2023, compared to 340.6 billion drams in 2022. This is the largest increase in Armenia's military budget since 1995. At the preliminary exchange rate, Armenia's military budget for 2023 will be approximately $1.24 billion.

Azerbaijan to Again Increase its Military Budget

Azerbaijan's military budget is projected to be $3.13 billion next year. Notably, in 2023, Armenia's military budget will lag behind Azerbaijan's by 2.5 times, the lowest ratio since 2005 when Azerbaijan began significantly increasing its military budget and procurement volume. The source for comparison is the database of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) and the state budgets of the two countries.

Georgia's Defense Budget to Increase by $93 Million in 2023

Georgia's Defense Minister Juansher Burchuladze announced that the country's defense budget will increase by 260 million lari ($93 million) next year. Burchuladze stated that the ministry's budget grew by nearly 10% or 80 million lari this year and that these funds will be proportionally distributed across all sectors. The minister emphasized that the department is working on a new model for the reserves to make military service "more attractive" for the citizens of the country.

Russia's Military Spending Will Represent One Third of the Budget in 2023

The new federal budget of Russia was adopted on December 5 by President Putin. According to allocations, 9 trillion rubles ($143 billion) have been allocated for the needs of military personnel, special service employees, and the police in 2023. This marks a significant increase compared to the previous year and constitutes about 30% of the total budget.

Ukraine Will Allocate Nearly Half of Its Budget for Defense in 2023

In Ukraine's draft budget for 2023, nearly half of the funds are designated for defense and security (1 trillion 136 billion hryvnias). Prime Minister Denis Shmyhal details that defense sector expenditures include salaries for military personnel, maintenance of the army, repair and purchase of equipment and weaponry, among other issues. Earlier, Ukraine's Finance Minister Sergey Marchenko stated that defense spending and military salaries have increased sixfold since the beginning of the large-scale Russian invasion.

US Military Budget Allocates $800 Million to Kyiv

US President Joe Biden has confirmed the defense budget for the fiscal year 2023 (starting October 1) at $858 billion. The corresponding bill was previously approved by both houses of the US Congress. The document, among other things, provides for an allocation of at least $800 million to Ukraine for security assistance and $6 billion for deterrence initiatives against Russia in Europe.

The UK Will Increase Its Military Budget

The UK government intends to increase the amount of the military budget in light of the conflict in Ukraine. Analysts estimate that to avoid a reduction in real military spending, the UK Defense Ministry's budget should increase by at least £1.5 billion ($1.8 billion) for 2024-2025, from £48.6 billion ($58.6 billion) to £50.1 billion ($60.4 billion).

Germany's Military Budget Will Increase by €2 Billion, Mostly for Kyiv

Germany's Finance Minister Christine Lindner announced the government's plans to increase the country's military budget by €2 billion months ago. It is known that most of these funds will be directed to assistance for Ukraine. Reuters, citing sources in the German government, reports that approximately €400 million of that amount is intended for the European Peace Facility, which purchases weapons for Ukraine.