Soaring military spending threatens global peace, development: UN chief

​​​​​​​HAMILTON, Canada

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday warned that record global military spending is undermining peace and sustainable development.

"Today, we release a report that lays bare a stark reality: the world is spending far more on waging war than in building peace," Guterres said at a news conference at UN headquarters in New York at the launch of a report, "The Security We Need: Rebalancing Military Spending for a Sustainable and Peaceful Future."

Noting that global military expenditures in 2024 surged to $2.7 trillion, equivalent to $334 for every person on Earth, Guterres said, "That is nearly thirteen times the amount of official development assistance from the world's wealthiest nations, and 750 times the regular budget of the United Nations."

Warning that the consequences are directly linked to declining progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), he stressed that "only one in five SDGs targets is on track. The financing gap is growing, and so is the cost of inaction."

The report said military spending is rising across all regions, diverting crucial resources from health, education, poverty reduction and climate resilience.

It highlighted projections that if current trends continue, global military spending could reach between $4.7 trillion and $6.6 trillion by 2035, nearly five times the level at the end of the Cold War.

"The current trajectory is unsustainable," Guterres emphasized, adding that "investing in people is investing in the first line of defense against violence in any society."

He said redirecting even a fraction of military spending "could close vital gaps, putting children in school, strengthening primary health care, expanding clean energy and resilient infrastructure, and protecting the most vulnerable."

Calling for practical steps to rebalance priorities, Guterres said: "The evidence is clear: excessive military spending does not guarantee peace. It often undermines it; fueling arms races, deepening mistrust, and diverting resources from the very foundations of stability."

"A more secure world begins by investing at least as much in fighting poverty as we do in fighting wars,” he added.