European military expenditure increased by 1.7 per cent in 2015 to $328 billion,
5.4 per cent higher than in 2006 (see table 3). Spending in Western and Central Europe was $253 billion, down 0.2 per cent on 2014 and down 8.5 per cent compared with 2006 (see figure 3). Expenditure in Eastern Europe was $74.4 billion, up 7.5 per cent on 2014 and up 90 per cent compared with 2006. There were signs in 2015 that the austerity-driven decline in military spending in Western and Central Europe that has held sway since 2010 may be coming to an end. While military spending in Western Europe continued to fall (by 1.3 per cent in 2015), for the first time since 2009 the number of countries in the subregion that increased expenditure was higher than the number of those that reduced spending. The three biggest spenders in Western Europe—the UK, France and Germany—have all signalled a growth in spending in coming years.