India was the world’s fourth biggest military spender in 2018 after United States, China and Saudi Arabia, according to data released by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute on Tuesday. The institute report said the total world military expenditure rose to $1,822 billion in 2018, an increase of 2.6% from 2017.

Global military spending increased for the second consecutive year.

The four countries along with France accounted for 60% of global military spending. The study found that the United States increased its military expenditure for the first time since 2010. China’s military spending rose for the 24th consecutive year.

“In 2018, the USA and China accounted for half of the world’s military spending,” said Nan Tian, a researcher with the SIPRI Arms and Military Expenditure programme. ‘The higher level of world military expenditure in 2018 is mainly the result of significant increases in spending by these two countries.”

The United States spending in 2018 is pegged at $649 billion which is almost as much as the next eight largest-spending countries put together, the report said. “The increase in US spending was driven by the implementation from 2017 of new arms procurement programmes under the Donald Trump administration,’ says Aude Fleurant, the director of the SIPRI AMEX programme.

India’s 2018 spending rose by 3.1% to $66.5 billion (approximately 4.63 lakh crore) while Pakistan’s increased by 11% to $11.4 billion. The report said the tensions between the Asian countries were major factors in the increase in expenditure in the region.