Germany to increase defence spending to 3.5% of GDP: reports
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The news: Germany is planning to increase its defence spending to 3.5% of its gross domestic product over the next five years, according to media reports on Monday.
The numbers: The increase in spending will support Germany’s efforts to meet new NATO goals of committing at least 3.5% of GDP to defence, up on its current 2% of GDP allocation.
Germany's total defence spending would go up from €95 billion ($170.54 billion) in the draft budget for 2025 to €162 billion in the budget framework for 2029, according to sources cited by Reuters.
US President Donald Trump has previously called for EU nations to meet a 5% benchmark, which is expected to be supported during this week’s NATO Summit in The Hague.
The context: A document distributed by the government in Berlin, seen by Bloomberg, says: “The government is facing the challenge of significantly strengthening both domestic and alliance capabilities and assuming its responsibility for Europe’s security.”
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s coalition of his conservatives and the Social Democrats has vowed to reverse decades of underinvestment in Germany’s armed forces to address the growing threat from Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
Germany have also launched a debt-financed infrastructure investment program worth €500 billion to try to stimulate the stagnant economy.
Speaking at a forum in Berlin on Monday, Merz also said: “Money is not the decisive problem that we have for the Bundeswehr in coming years.”
Rather, he added the “decisive problem is qualified personnel,” and that the government could eventually be forced to reintroduce some form of conscription.
