Romania spent only 1.6% of GDP on defense in 2023, despite 2.5% target

Romania spent only 1.6% of its GDP on defense in 2023, despite assurances from the government and president that the country will reach the 2.5% target, according to a new NATO report.

With this level of expenditure, Romania is below the NATO average of 1.73% of GDP and below the minimum threshold of 2% of GDP.

The Netherlands, under prime minister Mark Rutte, spent slightly more, namely 1.63% of its GDP, on defense. Romanian president Klaus Iohannis and Rutte are in competition for the position of NATO secretary general.

One of Iohannis's campaign promises is precisely that of hiking the defense budget. "We all need to do everything in our power to reach the minimum of 2% of GDP for defense spending and to invest at least 20% in major equipment as soon as possible," Iohannis wrote in the electoral article published on Politico.

The NATO report further shows that Romania only reached the mandatory target of 2% of GDP for defense in 2020, when it spent 2.01%. Moreover, it has registered consistent decreases year over year in the last three years, and the amount of 1.6% of GDP recorded in 2023 is the lowest since 2017 to date, according to G4Media.

Moreover, the defense budget has collapsed while the budget deficit has increased year by year.

When it comes to actual investment in equipment, Romania ranks among the lowest in NATO, 5th from the bottom of the ranking, with 21.9% of the total defense budget. The clear leader in spending on new weapons is Poland (53.6% of the total defense budget goes to armament), followed by Finland, Luxembourg, Hungary, and Greece.

Romania had a defense budget of USD 5.6 billion in 2023.

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