by Eldric Vero
October 15, 2023
This CotD is related to Canada’s historical Military Expenditures via the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). SIPRI was established in 1966 and is an independent international institute dedicated to research into conflict, armaments, arms control and disarmament. The data presented in this CotD is sourced from the SIPRI website (https://sipri.org) as well as the annual report “Trends in World Military Expenditure, 2022” https://www.sipri.org/sites/default/files/2023-04/2304_fs_milex_2022.pdf.
Panel 1
This graph presents Canada’s Annual Military Expenditures (AMEs) since 1950. Note since 2013, Canada’s AMEs have increased from $19.1 Billion to $35.0 Billion in 2022 or an 83 percent increase over the past 9 years. To put things in perspective, the $35 Billion represents 2.9 percent of federal government spending (about $900 per capita) and 1.2 percent of Canada’s GDP.
Panel 2
This is a graphical presentation of the historical Cumulative Military Expenditures (CMEs) since 1950. Note that it took some 56 years for CMEs to reach $384.48 Billion or about 50 percent of the total CMEs to date. In the 16 years since 2006, Canada has ramped-up AMEs significantly resulting in a doubling of CMEs by 2022.
Panel 3
This is Figure 2 from the SIPRI report showing share of military expenditures of the top 15 countries. These 15 countries represent $1.842 Trillion (82 percent) of world military expenditures. Total world military expenditures are estimated to reach $2.240 Trillion in 2022 and likely will be beyond $2.30 Trillion in 2023.
“Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding” Albert Einstein