By Joke Kujenya
RECORD LEVELS of military expenditure continue to outpace global efforts to eradicate poverty, according to data released as the world marked the International Day of Peace 2025 under the theme Act Now for a Peaceful World.
A detailed report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) revealed that worldwide military spending reached $2.44 trillion in 2023.
Alone, the United States (US) accounted for nearly $916 billion of this figure, a sum greater than the combined defence budgets of the next ten countries.
China, Russia, India, and Saudi Arabia also ranked among the highest spenders, with defence budgets exceeding the gross domestic product of many African nations.
These figures capture the annual flow of resources channelled into weapons, intelligence, and military infrastructure but do not reflect the wider costs of war.
Another study by Brown University’s Costs of War Project estimated that the United States spent over $8 trillion on conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq across two decades, factoring in interest payments and the long-term care of veterans.
The World Bank also assessed that reconstruction needs in Ukraine amount to $486 billion. Conflicts in Syria, Yemen, Gaza, Sudan, and other regions have driven the global financial impact of wars into trillions.
Armed conflicts extend their toll beyond direct financial outlay. Economies collapse as wars disrupt trade, raise food and fuel prices, and discourage investment.
The war in Ukraine triggered surges in global grain and fertiliser costs, fuelling inflation in countries as far apart as Nigeria, Kenya, and Bangladesh. In states already vulnerable, conflict reinforces cycles of poverty and instability.
By contrast, estimates for ending extreme poverty are far lower.
The World Bank has calculated that about 700 million people live below the extreme poverty line of $2.15 a day, with the figure increasing when measured at $3 per day.
Economists suggest that lifting every person above this threshold through direct cash transfers would require between $200 billion and $250 billion annually.
Broader studies, which include social protection and delivery costs, place the annual requirement at between $70 billion and $325 billion.
Compared against global defence budgets, the costs of poverty eradication would amount to less than one-tenth of annual military expenditure.
The human impact of wars remains severe. The Costs of War Project estimates that over 4.5 million people have died in conflicts since 2001, either directly from violence or indirectly from hunger, disease, and displacement.
Millions of others continue to endure injury, trauma, and forced migration. Wars destroy infrastructure, closing schools and hospitals and undermining long-term social stability.
Armed conflict also creates environmental damage. Military operations are significant contributors to carbon emissions, while bombed oil facilities, scorched farmland, and hazardous waste leave long-term ecological effects that impede recovery.
Analysts note that the environmental costs of war further complicate development in already fragile settings.
The figures highlight a stark imbalance. At a time when $2.44 trillion is allocated annually to militaries, less than $250 billion could secure a minimum level of income for the world’s poorest households.
Reports further show that institutions such as the United Nations, World Bank, and International Monetary Fund have emphasised that poverty reduction and peace are closely linked, with conflict acting as a barrier to development and equitable growth.
Calls have also been made for governments to redirect a share of military budgets toward development and poverty alleviation.
Proposals suggest that reallocating even 10 per cent of global defence spending, roughly $240 billion, to social protection, education, and healthcare could eliminate extreme poverty within a decade.
The International Day of Peace 2025 has drawn attention to these contrasts, underscoring the financial and human consequences of prioritising military spending over social investment.
Observers note that the economic rationale for poverty eradication is clear: resources sufficient to address the challenge already exist but remain directed elsewhere.
As the theme Act Now for a Peaceful World is observed, the data underscores the choice before governments and institutions – whether to continue dedicating trillions to war or to allocate a fraction of those resources to lifting millions out of poverty and reducing the risk of future conflict.
