Global military expenditure hit record levels last year, with governments shelling out nearly $2 trillion (CHF1.8 trillion). Switzerland was the 14th biggest exporter of weapons, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
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Suíça contribui com o ‘boom’ no comércio global de armamentos
The United States accounted for 39% of all global military spending. The US, China, India, Russia and Britain together were responsible for 62% of the total expenditure internationally, which increased 2.6% last year from 2019.
Swiss defence expenditure was nearly CHF6 billion in 2019, according to the latest official figures. This represented 2.5% of the country’s total economic output (gross domestic product – GDP).
On average, countries around the world spent 2.4% of their GDP on weaponry last year, up from 2.2% in 2019, according to SIPRI.
Efforts to curb the war materiel industry in Switzerland have so far failed to produce results at the ballot box. Last November, voters gunned down a popular initiative to ban the Swiss National Bank, pension funds and foundations, from holding shares or lending money to global companies which generate more than 5% of their annual sales from war materiel.
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