LONDON — Defense budgets in the Asia-Pacific region will overtake the United States and Canada by 2021, according to a study by respected analysts IHS Jane’s published Tuesday.
Weapons spending in China and other Asia-Pacific countries is expected to rise 35 percent above its 2013 level to $501 billion (€383 billion) by 2021, outstripping North America, the “Balance of Trade” study concluded.
Overall, global arms trade — composed of arms imports and exports — bucked the economic downturn to increase 30 percent between 2008 and 2012, from $56.5 billion to $73.5 billion.
“At this rate, defense trade between countries will have more than doubled by 2020,” the study says.
Read the full story at DefenseNews