India spent $92.1 billion on defence in 2025, says SIPRI data: Here are top-10 military spenders

India's military spending increased by 8.9% to $92.1 billion, according to a report released by arms watchdog group SIPRI (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute). This makes India the fifth largest military spender in 2025 after the United States, China, Russia, Germany.

Together, these countries accounted for 58% of the total military spending of the world, which reached a whopping $2,887 billion in 2025, new data published by SIPRI on 27 April shows.

The report attributed the increase in India’s military expenditure to the brief conflict with neighbouring Pakistan in May last year. The conflict required India to use combat aircraft, drones and missiles and hence, pushed up military spending during the year.

“Revised capital outlays for military aircraft systems were 50% higher than originally budgeted, while operations and personnel costs for the Indian Air Force were revised upwards by 18% from the original budget,” the arms watchdog observed in the recent report.

At the same time, Pakistan’s military spending grew by 11% to $11.9 billion in 2025 — which is approximately 12.9% of India’s spending. According to the report, the increase was largely due to new orders for aircraft and missiles placed with China in 2025 following the armed conflict with India in May, as well as payments for earlier procurement contracts nearing completion.

"Global military spending rose again in 2025 as states responded to another year of wars, uncertainty and geopolitical upheaval with large-scale armament drives," the report noted.

On the one hand, military spending YoY declined in the US by 7.5% to $954 billion; on the other, it rose by 14% in Europe and by 8.1% in Asia and Oceania.

“Spending by Russia and Ukraine continued to grow in the fourth year of the war in Ukraine, while ongoing rearmament efforts by European NATO members led to the sharpest annual growth in spending in Central and Western Europe since the end of the cold war,” SIPRI said in their press release.

China, the world's second largest military spender, increased its military spending by 7.4% to $336 billion. This was the 31st consecutive year-on-year increase as China continued its military modernization drive. "A renewed campaign against corruption in military procurement does not appear to have constrained spending," the SIPRI report stated.