Arms Spending Continues to Grow

ROME, JULY 9, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Annual Report Reveals Big Increase in Arms Trade. World military expenditure grew 3.5% in 2006, reaching $1,204 billion. On June 11th the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute published the latest edition of its annual yearbook that provides an ample panorama of armaments and global security issues. Last year's increase means that between 1997-2006 world military expenditure rose by 37%. Moreover, almost 50% more conventional weapons were transferred internationally in 2006 than in 2002.

Elisabeth Sköns, one of those involved in writing the report, commented: "It is worth asking how cost-effective military expenditure is as a way of increasing the security of human lives, if we talk about avoiding premature deaths and disability due to current dangers." "For example, we know that millions of lives could be saved through basic health interventions that would cost a fraction of what the world spends on military forces every year," she said in a press release accompanying the report's publication.

The report pointed out that world military expenditure is unevenly distributed to an extreme degree. In 2006, the 15 countries with the highest spending accounted for 83% of the global total. The United States spent $528.7 billion. Military spending by the U.S. has increased sharply due to the cost of operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. The report noted that in 2006 China's military expenditure continued to increase rapidly, reaching $49.5 billion. For the first time it surpassed that of Japan ($43.7 billion), thus making China the biggest military spender in Asia and the fourth biggest in the world. In fact, Japan decreased its military spending last year, for the fifth consecutive year. India was the third biggest spender in Asia, at $23.9 billion.
Father John Flynn, L.C.
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