![U](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/U.S_-_China_-_Russia%2C_Military_Spending.svg)
The
military budget
A military budget (or military expenditure), also known as a defense budget, is the amount of financial resources dedicated by a state to raising and maintaining an armed forces or other methods essential for defense purposes.
Financing militar ...
of
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
is the portion of the overall budget of
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
that is allocated for the funding of the
Russian Armed Forces
The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (, ), commonly referred to as the Russian Armed Forces, are the military forces of Russia. In terms of active-duty personnel, they are the world's fifth-largest military force, with at least two m ...
. This military budget finances employee salaries and training costs, the maintenance of equipment and facilities, support of new or ongoing operations, and development and procurement of new weapons, equipment, and vehicles. According to estimates for the 21 years from 2000, Russia increased its military budget from $9.23bn to $65.9bn, or more than 700 percent. Moscow spends more on the military than any country of the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
.
[
]
History
In 1988 military spending was a single line item in the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
state budget, totaling 21 billion rubles (68.8 billion 1988 U.S. dollars). Given the size of the military establishment, however, the actual figure was considered to be far higher. However, in the wake of the breakup of the Soviet Union and the emergence of Russian Federation as an independent state, between 1991 and 1997 Russia's defence spending fell by a factor of eight in real prices. Between 1988 and 1993 weapons production in Russia fell by at least 50% for virtually every major weapons system.
In 1998, when Russian Federation experienced a severe financial crisis, its military expenditure in real terms reached its lowest point— barely one-quarter of the USSR's in 1991, and two-fifths of the level of 1992, the first year of Russia's independent existence. However, since the rise to power of Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
and the exposure of the poor state of preparedness amongst Russia's armed forces in the Chechen Wars, Russian military spending has rapidly increased, particularly after the 2008 Russian military reform
The Serdyukov reform (), named after its originator, Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov, was a major structural reorganisation of the Russian Armed Forces that began in 2009.
Significant reforms of the Russian Armed Forces were announced in Oc ...
. According to SIPRI, Russian military spending in real terms in 2012 was the highest it has been since Russian Federation's re-emergence as an independent nation, but is still far lower than the estimated military expenditure of the USSR in 1990 - its final full year of existence (US$291 billion at 2012 prices). The budget expanded from 1998 until 2015, but economic problems including a sharp decline in the oil price mean it will be cut by 5.3% in 2016 despite analysts saying that large increases are required to fund the current equipment plans and accommodate high rates of inflation; the navy may be the most likely victim of cuts.
In 2014, Russia's military budget of 2.49 trillion
''Trillion'' is a number with two distinct definitions:
* 1,000,000,000,000, i.e. one million million, or (ten to the twelfth power), as defined on the short scale. This is now the meaning in both American and British English.
* 1,000,000,000,0 ...
rubles
The ruble (American English) or rouble (Commonwealth English) (; rus, рубль, p=rublʲ) is the currency unit of Belarus and Russia. Historically, it was the currency of the Russian Empire and of the Soviet Union.
, currencies named ''rub ...
(worth approximately US$69.3 billion at 2014 exchange rates) was higher than any other European nation, and approximately 1/7th (14%) of the US military budget
The military budget is the largest portion of the discretionary United States federal budget allocated to the Department of Defense, or more broadly, the portion of the budget that goes to any military-related expenditures. The military budget ...
. However, a collapse in the value of the Rouble greatly reduced the dollar-value of the planned 2015 Russian military budget to US$52 billion, despite a 33% increase in its Rouble-value to 3.3 trillion. Due to the ongoing crisis the planned 33% increase had to be reduced to 25.6%, meaning the 2015 Russian military budget totalled 3.1 trillion rubles. The originally planned 3.36 trillion budget for 2016 has also been reduced to a planned budget of 3.145 trillion rubles, an increase of only 0.8% over 2015.
Russia’s military spending in 2021 hit $66bn, says the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) is an international institute based in Stockholm. It was founded in 1966 and provides data, analysis and recommendations for armed conflict, military expenditure and arms trade as well a ...
(SIPRI). But even then, the US was spending $801bn a year, and other NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
members about $363bn. Russia's official 2022 military budget is expected to be 4.7 trillion rubles ($75bn), or higher, and about $84bn for 2023, 40% more than initial military budget announced in 2021.
Between 2022–2025, Russia plans to spend in total $600bn on defence and security.
Russian invasion of Ukraine
Forbes Ukraine
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...
estimated in July 2022 that the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...
had a price tag of $400 million per day. In November 2022 Forbes Ukraine estimated that, in its first nine months, Russia had spent $82 billion on the invasion of Ukraine. In 2021, the Russian military budget exceeded by a factor of 10 that of Ukraine.
Unofficial estimates
Unofficial estimates typically place the total amount of military spending
A military budget (or military expenditure), also known as a defense budget, is the amount of financial resources dedicated by a state to raising and maintaining an armed forces or other methods essential for defense purposes.
Financing milit ...
for the Russian Federation higher than the Russian government figures, but these calculations tend to differ between organizations. According to the IISS "By simple observation..he military budget
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (pronoun), an English pronoun
* He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ
* He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets
* He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...
would appear to be lower than is suggested by the size of the armed forces or the structure of the military–industrial complex
The expression military–industrial complex (MIC) describes the relationship between a country's military and the defense industry that supplies it, seen together as a vested interest which influences public policy. A driving factor behind the r ...
, and thus neither of the figures is particularly useful for comparative analysis".
IHS Inc.
IHS Markit Ltd was an information services provider that completed a merger with S&P Global in 2022. Headquartered in London, it was formed in 2016 with the merger of IHS Inc. and Markit Ltd.
History IHS
Information Handling Services (IHS) "was ...
estimated the 2013 Russian military budget as being US$68.9 billion, US$78 billion in 2014, and predict a rise to US$98 billion in 2016. IHS described this as a rapid increase in spending which will result in the defence budget increasing from 15.7 percent of federal expenditure in 2013 to 20.6 percent by 2016.
The International Institute of Strategic Studies
The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) is a British research institute or think tank in the area of international affairs. Since 1997, its headquarters have been Arundel House in London, England.
The 2017 Global Go To Think T ...
(IISS) estimated the 2013 Russian military budget at US$68.2 billion, a 31% rise since 2008. IISS noted in their 2013 report that this meant that Russia had passed the UK and Saudi Arabia to become the world's third largest military spender, though exchange rates had also been a factor in this.
The SIPRI 2017 Military Expenditure Database estimated Russia's military expenditure in 2016 at US$69.2 billion. This estimate is roughly twice that of SIPRI's estimate of the Russian military budget for 2006 (US$34.5 billion).
Comparison with other countries
In 2020, China's military spend was estimated by SIPRI at $252 billion, while India was the third largest budget with $72.9 billion, followed by Russia with $61.7 billion.
See also
*Russian Armed Forces
The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (, ), commonly referred to as the Russian Armed Forces, are the military forces of Russia. In terms of active-duty personnel, they are the world's fifth-largest military force, with at least two m ...
*Military budget of China
The military budget of China is the portion of the overall budget of China that is allocated for the funding of the military of China. This military budget finances employee salaries and training costs, the maintenance of equipment and facilities ...
*Military budget of the United States
The military budget is the largest portion of the discretionary United States federal budget allocated to the Department of Defense, or more broadly, the portion of the budget that goes to any military-related expenditures. The military budget ...
*List of countries by military expenditures
This is a list of countries by military expenditure in a given year. Military expenditure figures are presented in United States dollars based on either constant or current exchange rates.
Military expenditure, total
; Stockholm International P ...
*
References
{{Reflist
Military of Russia
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
Russian Federation
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
Finance in Russia
Government of Russia