Izumi Nakamitsu, High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, issued the following message on the occasion of the 2025 Global Days of Action on Military Spending. | 28 April 2025
Each year, the Global Days of Action on Military Spending serve as a stark reminder of the increasingly volatile and tense state of the world. They have become an unfortunate tradition to reflect on the implications of the worrying trajectory of military spending, rising levels of armed violence and increased suffering for many in all regions of the world.
The figures released today by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) are a painful reminder of where the global community is heading. They show that world military expenditure reached 2,718 billion US dollars in 2024, an increase of 9.4% in real terms from 2023, and the 10th year of consecutive increases.
To put this number in perspective, it amounts to 2.5 per cent of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP) or 334 US dollars for every person on the planet.
As we stand at a critical crossroad, we must assess the impact of our choices on global peace, security, and sustainable development. For a full decade military spending has increased every single year, diverting essential and limited resources away from poverty eradication, climate action, and gender equality. Yet, it has not produced peace.
Through the Pact for the Future, adopted in September 2024, Member States of the United Nations recognized the interdependence of global peace and security, sustainable development and human rights and requested the Secretary-General to provide analysis on the impact of the increase in military expenditure on the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals by the end of the seventy-nine session of the UN General Assembly. In a candid and evidence-based reflection on the current state of the world, the analysis will offer insight into how our spending priorities need to be realigned to create a future where peace and prosperity are accessible to all.
Real security cannot be measured solely by the strength of our armies and the power of our weapons. It must encompass the well-being of our people and the health of our planet. We must break the vicious cycle of allocating resources to harm one another and prioritize investments that generate growth and opportunity for all.
The path to peace and sustainable development lies in dialogue, trust-building, and collective action—not in the accumulation of weapons. Let’s reimagine our vision of security, one that places people and their well-being at its core, prevents conflicts, and understands that sustainable development is an essential tool for a peaceful world.