According to recent data on government expenditure across the EU in 2019, member states spent around €168.5 billion on defence – 2.6% of total government expenditure. The Czech Republic was among the lower spenders, with defence spending equivalent to 0.9% of GDP. Photo Credit: Army CR.
Czech Rep., Sep 1 (BD) – In 2019, spending by EU member states on defence totalled €168.5 billion, representing 2.6% of total government expenditure, and equivalent to 1.2% of GDP. Since 2014, the share of defence expenditure as a share of total government expenditure has increased slightly, while as a percentage of GDP it has remained stable at 1.2% of GDP.
The ratio of defence spending to GDP varied across the EU, with the lowest shares seen in Ireland (0.2%) and Luxembourg (0.4%), and highest in Estonia (2.1%) and Greece (2.0%).
The Czech Republic’s defence spending was equivalent to 0.9% of GDP, the 8th lowest among EU countries and below the EU average. Among the Czech Republic’s Central European neighbours, only Poland can be found among the higher defence spending countries in the bloc.
