11:23 / 13.02.2025

Study: Russia's military spending exceeds that of all of Europe

Russia's military spending in the war against Ukraine now exceeds the combined defense spending of all European Union countries and the United Kingdom. These are the conclusions of the "Military Balance" study conducted by the British International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), published by the Financial Times on Wednesday, February 12.

^{Photo: Marina Moldavskaya / TASS}
The document analyzes, in particular, the security problems that Europe will face if the United States reduces support for Ukraine and European defense.

Defense spending of Russia, EU countries and Britain

According to the study, in 2024, Russia's total defense spending will increase by 42 percent to 13.1 trillion rubles, which is equivalent to $ 462 billion in purchasing power parity. According to the IISS forecast, in 2025, Russian military spending will increase by 13.7 percent to 15.6 trillion rubles ($ 550 billion). This is equivalent to 7.5 percent of Russia's gross domestic product, or almost 40 percent of all federal spending, the FT reports.

By comparison, European defense budgets, including those of Britain and the EU, rose by almost 12 percent last year to $457 billion. Germany's defense budget, in particular, rose by 23 percent to $86 billion (€83 billion). Thus, for the first time in 30 years, it exceeded Britain's, which is $81 billion (€78 billion), the publication notes. It is emphasized that these statistics are explained by one-time investments from a special fund for the modernization of the Bundeswehr.

Traditionally the second largest in Europe in absolute terms, France's defense budget will increase by 4.5 percent in 2024 to $64 billion (€62 billion). This is equivalent to 2 percent of the country's gross domestic product.

Among the countries with the highest defense spending in Europe is Estonia, which borders Russia and spent almost 4 percent of its GDP on defense last year. Poland came in second with 3.25 percent. However, in absolute terms, these countries' defense spending is much lower than that of Europe's three largest economies: $1.7 billion and $28 billion, respectively.