The IISS analyzed numbers from the Military Balance Plus database and found that global defense spending increased in 2020 to reach $1.83 trillion -- a 3.9% increase over 2019 figures.
The United States, which spent $738 billion on defense in 2020, accounted for 40.3% of total global defense spending, the IISS said.
China's defense spending did not increase as sharply in 2020 as it did in 2019, but the country still spent $193.3 billion on defense in 2020 -- $12 billion more than the year before.
Overall global defense spending grew by 3.9%, the report said.
IISS noted that defense spending rose inversely with overall global economic activity, which contracted last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The report also said European defense spending grew by 2% in 2020.
That's a smaller rate of growth than the 4.1% increase from 2019 -- but part of an upward trend, with overall defense spending by NATO members being up 20% from 2014.
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