According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), countries are spending twice as much on defense as they did 10 years ago, aiming to reach the 5% of GDP level set by the NATO bloc for 2035.
The Bundeswehr aims to become “Europe’s strongest army”
Germany spent about 97 billion euros on defense last year, 24% more than in 2024. It overtook the UK to become the largest investor in Europe and the fourth largest in the world after the US ($854 billion), China ($336 billion) and Russia ($190 billion).
Germany intends to acquire new weapons systems, strengthen infrastructure and cybersecurity, retired Colonel Ralf Thiele, chairman of EuroDefense Germany, told Europe in Motion.
“Further strategic priorities are related to military-space programs,” Thiele was quoted by Euronews as saying.
Who else is increasing military spending?
Italy follows with a 20% increase in defense spending, catching up with Israel (€41 billion). Spain increased military spending by 50%, bringing it up to its previous target of 2% of GDP for the first time since the early 1990s.
If we do not take into account Ukraine, whose defense spending is about 40% of GDP, the world leader in this indicator is Algeria – 8.8%.
All leading European countries border Russia. In the first place is Poland, which allocates 4.5% of its GDP to armaments, followed by Latvia with 3.6%, Estonia (3.4%) and Norway (3.3%). Iceland (almost 0 %), Ireland (0.2 %) and Switzerland (0.8 %) round out the ranking.
Among the continent’s five major economies, the UK remains the top investor in relation to GDP at 2.4%, followed by Germany (2.3%), Spain (2.1%), France (2%) and Italy (1.9%).
How does the war in Ukraine affect military spending?
The U.S. has reduced defense spending (-7.5%), mainly because no new financial aid to Ukraine has been approved for 2025. In the previous three years, Kiev received $127 billion.
The U.S. still accounts for 33% of all defense spending in the world. They are followed by China (12 %) and Russia (6.6 %).
“Despite sanctions, Russia has so far managed to increase its military spending year on year since 2022,” SIPRI said in a statement.
