STOCKHOLM, June 17 (Reuters) - World military spending rose by six percent last year, growing twice as fast as in 2001 to reach $794 billion, largely as a result of the U.S.-led war on terrorism, a respected think-tank said on Tuesday.
Washington accounted for three quarters of the increase, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said in its Yearbook, a defence and security policy publication widely recognised for the reliability of its data.
Russia overtook the United States as the world largest arms exporter while China was the largest importer followed by India, locked in an arms race with impoverished nuclear rival Pakistan.
But with outlays up 10 percent year-on-year at $336 billion, the United States accounted for 43 percent of global military expenditure in 2002, up from 36 percent in 2001.
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