Russia regains 3rd place in SIPRI’s defense spending ranking

Russia has regained third place in the ranks of countries with the largest defense spending, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute’s annual “World military spending” report.

Russia spent $69.2 billion on defense in 2016, up 5.9 percent on the year and one place in the rankings, the report read. Saudi Arabia, which ranked third last year, has since cut defense spending by 30 percent and dropped to fourth place at $63.7 billion.

The United States took first place, spending $611 billion on defense in 2016 – a 1.7 percent increase on the year, according to SIPRI; and, China retained second place with an expenditure of $215 billion – a 5.4 percent increase on the year.

In fifth place was India, which saw an 8.5 percent increase in defense spending at $55.9 billion in 2016.

The Stockholm Peace Research Institute is an independent institution specializing in arms control and disarmament research.

SIPRI relies on open sources to compile reports on countries’ defense spending. The data in the Institute’s reports often varies significantly from official statistics.