And now the official announcement for China's 2024 budget came in.
1670 trillion Yuan, or 7.2% increase over 2023.
1670 billion is baseline, just the official figure that doesn't include some stuff. So let's say 25 percent in other expenses don't get reported, like R&D and other stuff. (to use SIPRI's estimate for those items, as per their old reports)
So now we're at 2090 billion.
Costs are smaller in China so there has to be a multiplicator used. At the low end range, simple nominal to PPP GDP multiplier can be used. That's times 1.85. At the higher end of the range, actual difference in salaries can be used, between US and China. That'd amount to a few times higher salaries in the US.
Those would increase the 2090 billion to anywhere from 3865 to 6270 billion (if 3 times the salary is assumed)
At current exchange rate that's 535 to 870 billion USD.
Of course even that's not enough for a direct comparison as, beyond salaries, a dollar will still not buy the same stuff as a yuan. Some companies will simply charge more for the same stuff, because they can. There's the fact China has many more soldiers to upkeep. But at the same time, many are not on full salary but on an allowance. Too many factors are there to make a true direct comparison.
But with all being said, China's spending will likely pay for roughly similar amount of stuff as the US spending.
www.defensenews.com
defensescoop.com
www.defensenews.com
www.airandspaceforces.com
www.militarytimes.com
www.defensenews.com
www.defenseone.com
www.defensenews.com
www.defensenews.com
www.heritage.org
asia.nikkei.com
