NATO defense expenditures in 1949-2017
Jarosław
Wołkonowski
1, *1University of Bialystok,Faculty of Economics and Information Technology in Vilnius, 76 Naugarduko St., 03-202 Vilnius, Lithuania
Abstract. The article presents the development of the issue of expenditure on the defense of NATO countries. The amount of these expenditures of NATO countries compared to GDP, absolute values and their share in public spending were analyzed. In the years 1949-1992, all NATO countries (except Luxembourg) had defense spending above 2% of GDP. Changes in the international situation at the end of the 20th century in Europe caused a decrease in defense spending below 2% of GDP in the period between 1993 and 2017. Despite the decisions taken in 2006 and 2014, only 5 countries now fulfil this condition. US expenditures in the studied period accounted for 65.5% of the NATO budget.
1 The goals and commitments of NATO alliance countries
The preamble to the North Atlantic Treaty of 4 April 1949 stated that member states are
determined to protect the freedom, common heritage and civilizations of their nations,
which are based on the principles of democracy, individual freedom and will seek to
strengthen stability and prosperity in the North Atlantic area. In order to achieve this goal,
the member states decided to combine their efforts to collectively defend and preserve
peace and security. For this purpose, Member States agreed to sign the Treaty [1].
One of the most important articles of the Treaty is Article 5, which contains the
principles of collective security - one for all and all for one:
„
The Parties agree that an
armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered
an attack against them all and consequently they agree that, if such an armed attack
occurs, each of them, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defence
recognised by Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, will assist the Party or
Parties so attacked by taking forthwith, individually and in concert with the other Parties,
such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and
maintain the security of the North Atlantic area. Any such armed attack and all measures
taken as a result thereof shall immediately be reported to the Security Council. Such
measures shall be terminated when the Security Council has taken the measures necessary
to restore and maintain international peace and security
”
.
The supplement to this issue is Article 3, which states that
„
In order more effectively to
achieve the objectives of this Treaty, the Parties, separately and jointly, by means of
continuous and effective self-help and mutual aid, will maintain and develop their
individual and collective capacity to resist armed attack
”
[2].
2 The level of expenditure of NATO countries in 1949-1981
[image:2.482.55.431.271.434.2]Financial resources were necessary to achieve the goals set, as they would allow to
maintain a certain level of defense (having a permanent army) of NATO member states. In
the initial period, NATO consisted of 12 countries, but in 1952 Turkey and Greece (the first
enlargement) were added, while in 1955 - Germany joined the Alliance (the second
extension) and it consisted of 15 countries. As part of their commitments, NATO countries
granted a certain level of financial security - data are included in
Tables 1.
,
2.
and
3.
(in%
of GDP), while in absolute terms (in billion) - in
Tables 4.
,
5.
and
6
. As we can see from
the data in
Table 1.
the highest rate of defense spending was reported by the USA (from
13,28% to 7,42%) and the United Kingdom (from 9,80% to 4,65%). The increasing trend of
this indicator in the years 1949-1959 should be noted, while in the following decades there
was the falling trend of defense expenditures of the NATO alliance in the period 1960-1982
- from 7,73% to 5,59. The declining trend of NATO defense spending continued between
1971 and 1981 and stabilized at 4% of GDP. Similar trends were also observed in the
world, but the level of NATO alliance spending was higher.
Table 1. Defense expenditures (in% of GDP) of NATO countries in the years 1949-1959 [3].
No. Country 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1. Canada - 2,43 4,66 6,80 7,37 6,86 6,18 5,69 5,35 4,94 4,40 2. Belgium - - - - 4,86 4,88 3,78 3,56 3,61 3,57 3,52 3. Denmark . . 1,66 2,05 2,74 3,36 3,19 3,18 3,03 3,08 2,88 2,59 4. France . . 5,54% 7,13 8,60 9,01 7,29 6,41 7,69 7,33 6,77 6,71 5. Iceland2 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00
6. Italy - - 4,26 4,50 3,75 3,98 3,67 3,57 3,48 3,43 3,33 7. Luxembourg - 1,34 1,56 2,37 2,89 3,26 3,23 1,90 1,95 1,93 1,76 8. Netherlands - - - 5,79 5,32 4,72 4,02 9. Norway 2,71 2,37 3,05 4,01 5,08 5,00 3,93 3,52 3,59 3,51 3,58 10. Portugal - 3,10 - - 3,29 3,41 3,45 3,28 3,27 3,23 3,44 11. United Kingdom - 6,45 7,42 9,28 9,80 8,99 8,13 7,66 7,14 6,82 6,52 12. United States 5,05 4,87 9,74 13,28 13,02 11,25 9,73 9,49 9,58 9,65 9,05 13. Turkey (1952) - - - - 14. Greece (1952) 5,91 6,01 6,64 6,43 5,11 5,49 5,11 5,94 5,00 4,77 4,86 15. Germany (1955) - - - - 4,21 3,97 4,08 3,62 4,14 2,96 4,43 - no data; 2 Iceland does not maintain a permanent army, which is why there is no defense spending.
Table 2. Defense expenditures (in% of GDP) of NATO countries in the years 1960-1970 [4].
[image:2.482.58.429.464.644.2]Table 3. Defense expenditures (in% of GDP) of NATO countries in the years 1971-1981 [5].
No. Country 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1. Belgium 2,76 2,74 2,70 2,63 2,92 2,95 3,00 3,11 3,11 3,10 3,22 2. Canada 2,09 1,98 1,80 1,75 1,83 1,73 1,77 1,82 1,68 1,73 1,68 3. Denmark 2,25 2,10 1,89 2,14 2,30 2,12 2,14 2,19 2,17 2,27 2,34 4. France 3,80 3,70 3,59 3,49 3,61 3,57 3,67 3,72 3,69 3,77 3,88 5. Iceland 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 6. Italy 2,40 2,56 2,34 2,20 2,09 1,93 2,00 1,99 1,98 1,88 1,94 7. Luxembourg 0,58 0,60 0,57 0,55 0,70 0,72 0,73 0,75 0,74 0,84 0,88 8. Netherlands 2,84 2,82 2,70 2,65 2,84 2,69 2,95 2,75 2,84 2,73 2,79 9. Norway 2,94 2,83 2,70 2,62 2,78 2,72 2,69 2,81 2,74 2,59 2,59 10. Portugal 5,63 5,28 4,52 5,64 4,02 3,07 2,69 2,65 2,64 2,64 2,64 11. United Kingdom 4,54 4,62 4,39 4,53 4,78 4,63 4,40 4,23 4,19 4,49 4,46 12. United States 6,41 6,05 5,49 5,55 5,23 4,85 4,84 4,64 4,65 4,83 5,29 13. Turkey 3,50 3,45 3,35 3,19 5,12 4,94 4,71 4,19 3,36 3,88 3,96 14. Greece 3,54 3,40 3,02 4,14 5,02 5,01 5,08 4,79 4,45 4,00 4,93 15. Germany 2,91 3,02 3,01 3,10 3,13 2,99 2,89 2,90 2,82 2,82 2,90 NATO - 15 4,98 4,73 4,29 4,30 4,19 3,95 3,94 3,81 3,76 3,86 4,21 World 4,28 4,05 3,65 3,68 3,70 3,56 3,65 3,48 3,41 3,45 3,72
Defense expenditure includes all current and capital expenditure on armed forces as
well as military and civilian personnel, including pensions of military personnel and social
services for staff; service and maintenance; supply; military research and development and
military assistance. Civil defense and current expenditure on previous military activities
such as veteran benefits, demobilization, etc. are excluded [6].
The data in
Tables 4.-6.
show that NATO's spending in this period increased from
$ 16,08 billion in 1949 to $ 271,1 billion in 1981, while the US's share of these
expenditures was major (US share for the period 1949-1959 was 76.6%, for the period
1960-1970 it was 78.0%, for the period 1971-1981
–
60,9%), but with a declining tendency
- from 84% in 1949 to 55,6% in 1980.
Expenditure on the defense of the Soviet Union and the bloc of socialist countries due to
concealing data until 1990 are still unavailable. Therefore, for this reason, data on defense
spending in the world are incomplete [7].
Table 4. Defense expenditures (in billion $) of NATO countries in the years 1949-1959 [8].
[image:3.482.59.428.437.637.2]Table 5. Defense expenditures (in billion $) of NATO countries in the years 1960-1970 [9].
No. Country 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1. Belgium 0,38 0,39 0,42 0,44 0,50 0,50 0,56 0,61 0,65 0,68 0,75 2. Canada 1,70 1,68 1,67 1,61 1,66 1,57 1,61 1,78 1,80 1,77 1,89 3. Denmark 0,16 0,17 0,22 0,24 0,26 0,29 0,30 0,32 0,35 0,35 0,40 4. France 3,88 4,13 4,49 4,63 4,92 5,12 5,41 5,86 6,13 5,91 5,88 5. Iceland 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 6. Italy 1,14 1,20 1,38 1,65 1,79 1,94 2,15 2,17 2,24 2,26 2,50 7. Luxembourg 0,01 0,01 0,01 0,01 0,01 0,01 0,01 0,01 0,01 0,01 0,01 8. Netherlands 0,45 0,55 0,60 0,64 0,74 0,75 0,77 0,88 0,91 1,02 1,08 9. Norway 0,15 0,16 0,19 0,20 0,22 0,27 0,27 0,29 0,32 0,35 0,39 10. Portugal 0,11 0,17 0,20 0,20 0,23 0,23 0,26 0,33 0,37 0,37 0,44 11. United Kingdom 4,59 4,75 5,01 5,20 5,51 5,79 5,98 6,20 5,56 5,54 6,07 12. United States 45,38 47,81 52,38 52,30 51,21 51,83 63,57 75,45 80,73 81,44 79,85 13. Turkey 0,49 0,30 0,33 0,35 0,38 0,42 0,44 0,51 0,57 0,60 0,56 14. Greece 0,17 0,17 0,17 0,18 0,19 0,21 0,24 0,31 0,37 0,43 0,47 15. Germany 2,88 3,26 4,31 4,98 4,89 4,98 5,06 5,35 4,83 5,47 6,17 Total NATO countries 58,61 61,49 64,75 71,39 72,62 72,49 73,92 86,65 100,08 104,84 106,20 USA share in NATO (%) 77,43 73,80 73,83 73,37 72,02 70,65 70,11 73,37 75,39 77,01 76,69 Total countries of the world 3 81,65 84,46 90,72 92,51 93,74 97,36 113,44 130,32 137,94 141,63 139,73
NATO share in the world (%) 75,31 76,67 78,69 78,50 77,33 75,92 76,39 76,79 76,00 74,99 76,18 3 without spending on the defense of the Soviet Union and the countries of the socialist bloc
Table 6. Defense expenditures (in billion $) of NATO countries in the years 1971-1981[10].
No. Country 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1. Belgium 0,83 1,03 1,30 1,48 1,93 2,11 2,50 3,17 3,63 3,96 3,39 2. Canada 2,08 2,23 2,36 2,81 3,18 3,58 3,75 3,97 4,08 4,74 5,14 3. Denmark 0,43 0,49 0,58 0,73 0,93 0,95 1,06 1,32 1,53 1,62 1,45 4. France 6,30 7,53 9,50 9,95 13,03 13,30 15,04 18,87 22,67 26,43 23,87 5. Iceland 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 6. Italy 2,99 3,71 4,10 4,39 4,75 4,33 5,14 6,25 7,78 8,92 8,33 7. Luxembourg 0,01 0,01 0,02 0,02 0,02 0,03 0,03 0,04 0,04 0,05 0,05 8. Netherlands 1,25 1,52 1,92 2,29 2,81 2,90 3,70 4,23 5,04 5,27 4,53 9. Norway 0,43 0,49 0,61 0,71 0,91 0,98 1,11 1,31 1,45 1,67 1,65 10. Portugal 0,52 0,59 0,68 0,99 0,78 0,62 0,58 0,62 0,70 0,87 0,84 11. United Kingdom 6,72 7,86 8,45 9,35 11,54 10,77 11,58 14,22 18,37 25,36 24,10 12. United States 74,86 77,64 78,36 85,91 88,40 91,01 100,93 109,25 122,28 138,19 169,89 13. Turkey 0,57 0,70 0,86 1,14 2,29 2,53 2,77 2,73 3,00 2,67 2,81 14. Greece 0,52 0,57 0,68 1,05 1,43 1,56 1,84 2,12 2,42 2,27 2,58 15. Germany 7,26 9,01 11,94 13,77 15,28 15,46 17,30 21,42 24,78 26,69 23,09 Total NATO countries 104,75 113,39 121,34 134,58 147,29 150,13 167,33 189,50 217,79 248,72 271,71 USA share in NATO (%) 71,46 68,47 64,58 63,83 60,02 60,62 60,31 57,65 56,15 55,56 62,52 Total countries of the world 3 139,73 152,42 167,73 195,09 218,28 228,16 264,57 297,19 338,92 385,73 426,56
NATO share in the world (%) 74,97 74,39 72,34 68,98 67,48 65,80 63,25 63,76 64,26 64,48 63,70
[image:4.482.57.426.317.515.2]Table 7. Defense expenditures of NATO countries (% of public expenditure) in the years 1971-1981 [11].
No. Country 1971* 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981
1. Belgium - - - -
2. Canada - - - -
3. Denmark - 7,21 7,06 7,10 7,42 7,07 7,01 6,99 6,61 6,32 6,14 4. France - 12,33 12,24 11,21 10,76 10,58 10,74 10,61 10,40 10,33 9,97 5. Iceland - 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 6. Italy - - 8,78 8,27 6,73 6,43 6,61 5,85 5,53 4,85 - 7. Luxembourg - 2,68 2,68 2,65 2,44 2,46 2,29 2,44 2,34 2,61 2,60 8. Netherlands - 7,64 7,31 6,89 6,48 6,89 6,25 6,27 5,93 5,89 9. Norway - 10,00 9,56 9,26 9,57 8,70 8,45 8,42 8,16 7,93 7,95 10. Portugal - - - - 16,96 11,82 - 10,13 10,15 9,64 8,92 11. United Kingdom - 15,67 15,22 13,63 13,09 12,70 12,75 12,27 12,32 12,63 11,89 12. United States - 34,10 30,72 31,09 26,95 24,62 24,73 24,29 24,60 23,54 25,22 13. Turkey - 23,11 22,13 26,00 35,99 35,11 29,60 26,08 17,93 21,29 25,20 14. Greece - 21,12 19,11 22,77 28,05 25,85 25,03 23,76 22,27 18,71 20,37 15. Germany - 14,90 14,56 13,94 12,72 12,07 11,66 11,71 11,59 11,06 11,02 World2 - 23,64 19,89 19,84 17,67 16,64 16,33 15,31 14,70 14,09 15,65 * - there is no data in the World Bank and SIPRI databases for the years 1949-1971
3 Declining defense spending of NATO countries 1982-1992
In the period 1982-1992, Spain was included in NATO (third enlargement), and the alliance
consisted of 16 countries. During this period, the amount of defense expenditures as a share
of the country's GDP continued to show a downward trend - the figure for NATO fell from
4,79% to 3,40% in 1992. The USA had the highest rate - from 6,39% up to 4,67% in that
period.
Table 8. Defense expenditures of NATO countries (% of GDP) in the years 1982-1992 [12].
No. Country 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1. Belgium 3,12 3,05 2,87 2,80 2,82 2,77 2,51 2,35 2,25 2,19 1,75 2. Canada 1,92 2,04 2,07 2,05 2,06 2,02 1,95 1,90 1,92 1,86 1,82 3. Denmark 2,32 2,27 2,13 2,01 1,87 1,96 2,01 1,94 1,92 1,92 1,86 4. France 3,85 3,87 3,81 3,76 3,69 3,73 3,54 3,45 3,36 3,36 3,22 5. Iceland 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 6. Italy 2,13 2,15 2,14 2,06 2,11 2,20 2,21 2,15 1,99 1,96 1,90 7. Luxembourg 0,87 0,88 0,84 0,80 0,77 0,85 0,88 0,73 0,73 0,75 0,77 8. Netherlands 3,09 2,81 2,80 2,74 2,70 2,70 2,60 2,51 2,36 2,24 2,21 9. Norway 2,71 2,76 2,51 2,75 2,76 2,92 2,84 2,86 2,83 2,70 2,91 10. Portugal 2,63 2,54 2,49 2,41 2,41 2,35 2,39 2,40 2,38 2,37 2,35 11. United Kingdom 4,81 4,83 4,93 4,76 4,53 4,19 3,77 3,61 3,56 3,68 3,46 12. United States 6,39 5,87 5,73 5,94 6,12 5,92 5,58 5,37 5,12 4,54 4,67 13. Turkey 4,27 4,00 3,65 3,52 3,66 3,31 2,93 3,15 3,53 3,75 3,87 14. Greece 4,83 4,44 4,15 4,03 3,55 3,65 3,61 3,23 3,26 2,99 3,12 15. Germany 2,89 2,88 2,79 2,73 2,66 2,64 2,51 2,41 2,40 2,12 1,98 16. Spain 2,54 2,80 2,83 2,82 2,50 2,49 2,37 2,25 2,19 2,03 1,95 NATO-16 4,79 4,59 4,58 4,70 4,59 4,36 4,10 3,98 3,73 3,42 3,40 World3 4,22 4,05 4,02 4,07 3,77 3,65 3,41 3,31 3,20 2,95 2,90
[image:5.482.57.428.392.581.2]Table 9. Defense expenditures (in billion $) of NATO countries in the years 1982-1992 [13].
No. Country 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1. Belgium 2,89 2,67 2,41 2,43 3,40 4,16 4,10 3,88 4,64 4,62 4,13 2. Canada 6,02 6,95 7,35 7,46 7,78 8,69 9,90 10,75 11,41 11,34 10,79 3. Denmark 1,40 1,37 1,26 1,26 1,65 2,14 2,32 2,18 2,65 2,67 2,84 4. France 22,52 21,65 20,21 20,78 28,45 34,86 36,11 35,32 42,59 42,70 45,13 5. Iceland 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 6. Italy 9,09 9,48 9,35 9,31 13,46 17,65 19,62 19,93 23,37 24,34 25,00 7. Luxembourg 0,04 0,04 0,04 0,04 0,05 0,07 0,09 0,08 0,10 0,11 0,12 8. Netherlands 4,83 4,26 3,98 3,88 5,35 6,54 6,73 6,40 7,42 7,25 7,90 9. Norway 1,70 1,70 1,55 1,80 2,17 2,75 2,89 2,93 3,39 3,29 3,80 10. Portugal 0,80 0,69 0,63 0,65 0,94 1,13 1,35 1,46 1,87 2,12 2,53 11. United Kingdom 24,79 23,63 22,73 23,28 27,22 31,23 34,30 33,50 38,94 42,08 40,77 12. United States 213,63 213,63 231,46 258,17 281,11 288,16 293,09 304,09 306,17 280,29 305,14 13. Turkey 2,75 2,47 2,19 2,37 2,77 2,89 2,66 3,37 5,32 5,63 6,13 14. Greece 2,64 2,20 1,99 1,93 2,00 2,40 2,75 2,56 3,19 3,15 3,63 15. Germany 22,35 22,13 20,13 19,92 27,69 34,13 35,10 33,60 42,32 39,52 41,96 16. Spain 4,96 4,77 4,85 5,08 6,27 7,92 8,90 9,30 11,70 11,68 12,25 Total NATO countries 320,41 317,64 330,13 358,35 410,31 444,74 459,91 469,34 505,10 480,78 512,14 USA share in NATO (%) 66,67 67,25 70,11 72,04 68,51 64,79 63,73 64,79 60,62 58,30 59,58 Total countries of the world 3 479,47 470,55 485,42 516,17 565,46 624,00 653,54 664,92 722,45 706,57 737,13
NATO share in the world (%) 66,83 67,50 68,01 69,42 72,56 71,27 70,37 70,59 69,91 68,04 69,48
The share of defense spending in the public spending of NATO countries in the years
1982-1992 also showed a downtrend. The United States had the highest share
–
28,44% of
the budget in 1982 which decreased to 19,89% in 1991. Turkey had similar share in the
budget, as well as Greece in the initial period. The United Kingdom also had a two-digit
level of the rate throughout the studied period. Other NATO countries had much lower
shares, but all the countries of the alliance experienced a clear downward trend in the
decade under research. It was caused by fading of the military power of the Soviet Union
day by day (in fact the lost war in Afghanistan) and the bloc of the socialist countries (the
Warsaw Pact). In Central and Eastern Europe the pace of democratization processes
accelerated and the disintegration of the Eastern bloc was visible. These events changed the
international situation and reduced bipolar tensions. As a result the threat of large-scale
armed conflict was reduced [14].
Table 10. Defense expenditures of NATO countries (% of public expenditure) 1982-1992 [15].
No. Country 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992
1. Belgium - - - -
[image:6.482.59.427.455.637.2]4 Level of NATO defense expenditures in the years 1993-2004
[image:7.482.60.428.167.389.2]In 1999, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland were admitted to NATO (the fourth
enlargement) and the Alliance consisted of 19 countries. The share of defense expenditures
of GDP had a downward trend - from 3,27% in 1993 to 2,42% in 1999. Expenses dropped
(
Table 11.
) - from $ 482,1 billion in 1993 to $ 458,6 billion in 1997, then rose to $ 642,5
billion. The USA share in that period was at the level of 61,75% of the total.
Table 11. Defense expenditures of NATO countries (% of GDP) in the years 1993-2003 [16].
No. Country 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 1. Belgium 1,66 1,60 1,54 1,51 1,45 1,41 1,38 1,34 1,28 1,22 1,21 2. Canada 1,78 1,66 1,52 1,37 1,22 1,23 1,21 1,12 1,14 1,12 1,12 3. Denmark 1,87 1,74 1,69 1,64 1,62 1,61 1,56 1,46 1,53 1,51 1,47 4. France 3,22 3,18 2,98 2,89 2,84 2,66 2,61 2,48 2,42 2,44 2,49 5. Iceland 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 6. Italy 1,94 1,86 1,65 1,79 1,83 1,85 1,90 1,96 1,89 1,92 1,93 7. Luxembourg 0,66 0,69 0,66 0,65 0,68 0,71 0,63 0,60 0,75 0,65 0,67 8. Netherlands 2,02 1,91 1,79 1,76 1,66 1,58 1,59 1,45 1,45 1,45 1,46 9. Norway 2,63 2,68 2,31 2,16 2,02 2,16 2,04 1,71 1,70 2,08 1,97 10. Portugal 2,31 2,18 2,26 2,12 2,04 1,88 1,89 1,86 1,91 1,94 1,89 11. United Kingdom 3,21 3,02 2,56 2,45 2,30 2,25 2,19 2,14 2,18 2,24 2,30 12. United States 4,33 3,94 3,64 3,35 3,21 3,02 2,91 2,93 2,94 3,25 3,61 13. Turkey 3,92 4,05 3,90 4,14 4,10 3,18 3,89 3,66 3,60 3,80 3,30 14. Greece 3,09 3,08 3,05 3,16 3,19 3,34 3,36 3,47 3,25 3,08 2,49 15. Germany 1,80 1,65 1,59 1,56 1,50 1,48 1,48 1,44 1,41 1,41 1,40 16. Spain 1,92 1,91 1,87 1,76 1,68 1,67 1,76 1,73 1,63 1,46 1,42 17. Czech Republic (since 1999) 2,01 1,97 1,78 1,68 1,60 1,75 1,86 1,88 1,75 1,82 1,89 18. Hungary (since 1999) 1,83 1,75 1,32 1,25 1,47 1,27 1,43 1,51 1,57 1,59 1,64 19. Poland (since 1999) 2,21 2,03 1,91 1,93 2,01 2,00 1,90 1,83 1,91 1,90 1,91 NATO - 19 3,27 3,04 2,78 2,64 2,58 2,47 2,42 2,43 2,43 2,59 2,71 World 2,73 2,56 2,37 2,30 2,29 2,24 2,19 2,17 2,22 2,32 2,38
Table 12. Defense expenditures (in billion $) of NATO countries in the years 1993-2003 [17].
[image:7.482.57.429.401.642.2]Table 13. Defense expenditures of NATO countries (% of public expenditure) in the years 1993-2003 [18].
No. Country 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 1. Belgium 3,00 3,03 3,39 3,31 3,26 3,20 3,19 3,17 2,98 2,96 2,87 2. Canada 7,06 6,95 6,46 6,11 5,95 6,06 6,13 5,94 6,06 6,22 6,16 3. Denmark 4,65 4,28 3,98 4,01 4,11 4,13 4,10 3,96 4,18 4,12 3,96 4. France 7,36 7,25 6,29 6,09 5,96 5,80 5,70 5,59 5,40 5,33 5,42 5. Iceland 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 6. Italy 4,01 4,04 3,50 3,86 4,13 4,55 4,78 5,09 4,79 4,98 4,99 7. Luxembourg 2,10 2,19 1,78 1,77 1,82 1,90 1,79 1,77 2,12 1,77 1,75 8. Netherlands 4,29 4,14 3,76 4,27 4,13 4,09 4,22 3,96 3,91 3,85 3,80 9. Norway 6,75 6,98 6,13 6,07 5,92 6,06 5,87 5,38 5,26 5,58 5,32 10. Portugal 6,20 6,23 6,15 5,76 5,69 5,06 5,09 5,00 5,02 5,03 4,74 11. United Kingdom 8,59 8,16 7,28 7,19 6,97 6,95 6,80 6,57 6,58 6,55 6,47 12. United States 20,26 19,07 17,78 16,81 16,61 16,17 16,11 16,42 15,15 16,25 17,55 13. Turkey 17,10 18,47 18,62 16,44 14,88 14,56 - 9,19 8,08 9,14 8,46 14. Greece 8,12 8,45 6,82 7,16 7,46 7,73 7,94 8,00 7,58 7,25 5,88 15. Germany 5,65 5,17 4,15 4,81 4,71 4,67 4,70 4,63 4,59 4,55 4,45 16. Spain 5,52 5,63 7,55 7,47 7,63 7,77 8,52 8,57 8,39 8,10 8,18 17. Czech Republic (since 1999) 6,44 6,43 3,74 4,41 4,48 4,79 5,24 5,49 4,69 4,85 4,87 18. Hungary (since 1999) 3,64 3,43 2,57 2,67 3,28 2,80 3,25 3,65 3,83 3,70 3,83 19. Poland (since 1999) - 5,65 5,88 5,04 6,50 6,89 7,35 7,19 7,13 7,03 6,78 World 11,76 10,45 9,90 9,33 9,49 9,22 9,30 9,56 9,41 9,75 9,79
The share of defense expenditures within public spending (
Table 13.
) for most NATO
countries in the years 1993-2004 had a downward trend (the world also had a downward
trend in this indicator in this period). The USA had the highest level of this index, which
equalled 20,23% in 1993 and further dropped to 15,15% in 2001, but in the next two years
it increased to 17,55%. Turkey also had a high level of this ratio - 17% in the initial period
followed by a decrease to 8,08% in 2001. The United Kingdom had a clear downward trend
in this period - from 8,59% in 1993 to 6,47% in 2003. It should be noted that in comparison
to the other NATO countries experiencing a downward trend, four NATO countries had an
upward trend in this indicator - Italy (from 4% to 4,99%), Spain (from 5,52% to 8,18%),
Hungary (from 3,64% to 3,83%) and Poland (from 5,5% to 6,78%).
5 Expenditure on defense of NATO countries in 2004-2017
In the period between 2004 and 2017 further extensions took place - in 2004 seven
countries joined NATO (fifth enlargement): Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania,
Slovakia and Slovenia; in 2009, two countries joined (sixth enlargement): Albania and
Croatia; in 2017 Montenegro was added as a member state (the seventh enlargement) and
currently NATO has 29 states.
In the last decade of the twentieth century there was a breakdown of the socialist bloc
(and the Warsaw Pact) and the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The tension decreased and
the international situation improved. That is why NATO countries began to limit defense
spending by directing funds for economic development and social goals in that period.
weapons [19]. According to some authors, the amount of 2% of GDP allocated to the
defense budget is an even balance between the defense and development needs of
individual countries [20].
However, the implementation of those decisions was prevented by the financial crisis of
2008-2010. It was only after the annexation of the Crimea by the Russian Federation and
the fighting in eastern Ukraine that decisions were made to reach the level of defense
funding of 2% of GDP in all member states over the next decade at the NATO summit in
Wales on 5 September 2014 [21].
[image:9.482.56.427.341.659.2]Defense expenditures at 2% of GDP (
Table 14.
) in the pre-crisis period (2004-2007)
were met by 8 countries: France, the United Kingdom, the USA, Turkey, Greece, Poland,
Bulgaria and Estonia. However, in the following years, the difficult economic situation
caused by the global financial crisis resulted in a decline in this ratio in many NATO
countries - in 2008 only 6 countries satisfied the requirements (Poland and Bulgaria no
longer met the obligations), while in 2010 there were 5 countries left (Estonia did not meet
this requirement either). A similar situation was in 2012, while in 2014 only three countries
met this requirement - France, the USA and Greece. After making the decision in 2014 in
Newport (Wales), the situation began to improve slightly - this group was joined by Poland
and Estonia. In 2016-2017, this group consisted of 5 countries - France, the USA, Turkey,
Greece and Estonia. The general indicator for NATO countries in this period had an
increasing trend in 2004-2009 (from 2,73% in 2004 to 3,07% in 2009), however in
subsequent years 2009-2017 it indicated a clear downward trend - from 3,07% in 2009 to
2,37% in 2017.
Table 14. Defense expenditures of NATO countries (% of GDP) in the years 2004-2017 [22].
Such a tendency of the share of defense spending within GDP had a direct impact on the
level of expenditure of NATO countries (
Table 15.
). In the period 2004-2011 there was an
increase in defense spending from USD 727,1 billion in 2004 to USD 1,042 billion in 2011,
followed by a fall to USD 900,6 billion in 2017. US share in NATO defense expenditure in
years 2004-2017 had an average value of 67,73% of the total and in that period it had an
increasing tendency - from 63,98% at the beginning of the studied period to 68,66% in
2012 and remained at a similar level until the end of this period. As far as the decisions
taken in 2006 (Brussels) and 2014 (Newport) are concerned, it can be concluded that the
effectiveness of implementation of the decisions taken was poor.
Table 15. Defense expenditures (in billion $) of NATO countries in the years 2004-2017 [23].
No. Country 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 1. Belgium 4,27 4,22 4,30 5,14 6,28 5,62 5,22 5,48 5,18 5,26 5,20 4,19 4,30 4,48 2. Canada 11,36 12,98 14,86 17,43 19,36 18,92 19,36 21,46 20,43 18,43 17,81 17,94 18,12 20,66 3. Denmark 3,57 3,46 3,90 4,18 4,81 4,34 4,51 4,51 4,42 4,23 4,06 3,37 3,59 3,80 4. France 53,11 52,93 54,49 60,58 65,96 66,99 61,84 64,67 60,12 62,41 63,60 55,35 57,44 58,11 5. Iceland 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 6. Italy 34,17 33,53 33,41 35,91 41,36 38,24 36,13 38,24 33,79 33,87 31,63 25,29 28,26 29,41 7. Luxembourg 0,24 0,24 0,25 0,28 0,23 0,22 0,28 0,26 0,24 0,26 0,28 0,28 0,26 0,32 8. Netherlands 9,37 9,57 10,25 11,50 12,36 12,10 11,21 11,62 10,36 10,23 10,29 8,64 9,09 10,08 9. Norway 4,89 4,88 5,01 5,86 6,38 6,19 6,48 7,23 7,14 7,38 7,34 5,80 6,01 6,58 10. Portugal 3,73 4,04 4,07 4,37 4,82 4,95 4,72 4,90 4,13 4,72 4,11 3,57 3,57 3,79 11. United Kingdom 53,97 55,20 57,35 66,10 65,62 57,90 58,10 60,25 58,57 56,99 59,25 53,96 48,25 47,47 12. United States 465,2 502,8 527,9 557,4 621,1 669,0 698,8 710,7 685,0 639,3 610,0 596,2 599,7 608,9 13. Turkey 10,93 12,08 13,37 15,34 17,12 16,37 17,91 17,32 17,92 18,63 17,75 15,91 17,88 17,96 14. Greece 6,28 7,04 7,60 8,54 10,56 10,63 8,17 7,14 5,92 5,66 5,52 4,81 4,97 5,11 15. Germany 38,06 38,06 38,13 42,66 48,03 47,51 46,13 48,10 46,43 45,78 45,91 39,83 41,73 44,50 16. Spain 15,29 15,97 17,20 20,12 22,24 20,24 19,76 19,64 18,84 17,30 17,21 15,21 13,98 16,26 17. Czech Republic 2,04 2,44 2,46 2,71 2,92 2,72 2,49 2,48 2,22 2,16 2,02 1,77 1,95 2,24 18. Hungary 1,53 1,59 1,41 1,78 1,86 1,48 1,35 1,48 1,32 1,28 1,21 1,13 1,28 1,42 19. Poland 4,77 5,91 6,62 8,58 9,34 7,92 8,77 9,47 9,01 9,28 10,36 10,22 9,15 10,12 20. Bulgaria 0,65 0,70 0,75 1,03 1,04 0,97 0,90 0,83 0,81 0,90 0,83 0,66 0,76 0,87 21. Estonia 0,21 0,27 0,32 0,44 0,51 0,43 0,33 0,39 0,44 0,48 0,51 0,46 0,50 0,54 22. Latvia 0,23 0,27 0,37 0,48 0,58 0,36 0,26 0,29 0,26 0,28 0,29 0,28 0,41 0,51 23. Lithuania 0,27 0,30 0,35 0,44 0,54 0,40 0,33 0,34 0,33 0,35 0,43 0,47 0,64 0,82 24. Romania 1,53 1,97 2,25 2,60 2,99 2,23 2,08 2,38 2,09 2,45 2,69 2,58 2,65 4,02 25. Slovak Republic 0,94 1,05 1,13 1,28 1,46 1,35 1,14 1,06 1,02 0,97 1,00 0,99 1,01 1,13 26. Slovenia 0,49 0,51 0,61 0,69 0,83 0,80 0,77 0,67 0,54 0,51 0,48 0,40 0,45 0,48 27. Albania (2009) 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,18 0,19 0,20 0,18 0,18 0,18 0,13 0,13 0,16 28. Croatia (2009) 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 1,13 1,02 1,10 0,96 0,96 0,90 0,75 0,70 0,77 29. Montenegro (2017) 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,07 Total NATO countries 727,1 772,0 808,4 875,4 968,3 999,2 1018 1042 997,6 950,2 920,8 870,2 876,8 900,6 USA share
in NATO (%) 63,98 65,13 65,31 63,67 64,14 66,96 68,63 68,19 68,66 67,28 66,24 68,51 68,40 67,61 Total countries
of the world 1042 1128 1207 1336 1510 1570 1656 1759 1769 1772 1780 1691 1678 1751 NATO share
in the world % 69,77 68,42 67,00 65,53 64,14 63,66 61,51 59,25 56,39 53,62 51,72 51,45 52,25 51,44
The share of defense spending within public expenditure among NATO countries
(
Table 16.
) varied considerably - from 1,72% for Luxembourg in 2004 to 18,61% for the
[24], then defense expenditure should fluctuate around 4% to 6,7% of public expenditure of
the state to meet the 2% of GDP condition.
Table 16. Defense expenditures of NATO countries (% of public expenditure) in the years 2004-2017 [25].
No. Country 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 1. Belgium 2,83 2,52 2,60 2,73 2,91 2,64 2,51 2,35 2,27 2,22 2,16 2,20 2,23 1,73 2. Canada 6,40 6,21 6,59 6,99 7,29 7,31 6,26 6,69 6,38 5,87 6,04 6,75 6,81 3,06 3. Denmark 3,87 3,76 4,15 3,62 3,69 3,22 3,31 3,10 3,11 2,96 2,81 2,75 2,98 2,19 4. France 5,52 5,29 5,22 5,11 5,01 5,14 4,70 4,70 4,61 4,57 4,57 4,69 4,82 4,01 5. Iceland 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 6. Italy 5,01 4,73 4,45 4,27 4,40 4,08 4,08 4,09 3,86 3,75 3,46 3,26 3,59 3,12 7. Luxembourg 1,72 1,68 1,60 1,62 1,16 1,06 1,29 1,10 1,02 1,02 1,07 1,23 1,14 1,21 8. Netherlands 3,84 3,85 3,75 3,70 3,50 3,37 3,20 3,15 3,00 2,82 2,84 2,84 3,01 2,84 9. Norway 5,27 4,79 4,54 4,58 4,49 4,53 4,37 4,25 4,16 4,13 4,13 3,94 4,08 3,35 10. Portugal 4,86 4,95 4,86 4,63 4,56 4,65 4,51 4,52 4,33 4,60 3,77 4,08 4,20 3,90 11. United Kingdom 6,22 5,97 5,82 5,81 5,69 5,74 5,52 5,50 5,17 5,17 4,98 4,86 4,87 4,66 12. United States 18,61 18,62 18,55 18,45 18,44 18,06 17,79 17,97 17,57 16,53 15,29 14,51 14,17 8,81 13. Turkey 7,71 7,42 7,01 6,69 7,50 7,06 6,93 6,71 6,78 6,55 6,36 6,00 6,32 6,36 14. Greece 5,94 6,54 6,50 6,02 6,25 6,24 5,36 4,57 4,35 3,91 4,76 4,74 5,28 4,98 15. Germany 4,45 4,39 4,36 4,44 4,56 4,50 4,35 4,46 4,63 4,29 4,21 4,23 4,29 2,73 16. Spain 8,05 8,19 8,03 7,95 7,72 6,29 6,97 6,74 5,52 5,60 5,73 6,17 5,75 2,99 17. Czech Republic 4,87 5,29 4,79 4,38 3,84 3,74 3,42 3,09 2,91 2,92 2,81 2,85 3,04 2,64 18. Hungary 3,51 3,35 2,83 2,97 2,66 2,49 2,33 2,29 2,34 2,04 1,92 2,12 2,33 2,05 19. Poland 7,22 5,21 5,24 5,72 4,91 4,93 5,01 5,15 5,15 4,99 5,45 6,24 5,57 4,60 20. Bulgaria 10,04 7,44 7,37 7,08 5,98 5,47 5,58 4,83 4,82 4,89 3,99 3,78 4,39 4,40 21. Estonia 5,01 5,69 5,58 5,95 5,37 4,99 4,20 4,49 4,82 4,96 5,08 5,11 5,33 5,15 22. Latvia 4,05 4,11 4,40 4,33 3,87 2,67 1,97 2,20 2,06 2,15 2,12 2,39 3,44 4,48 23. Lithuania 3,60 3,48 3,45 3,23 3,05 2,48 2,13 1,91 2,18 2,20 2,59 3,31 4,44 5,03 24. Romania 6,54 6,43 5,83 4,50 4,32 3,66 3,53 3,68 3,66 4,07 4,24 4,45 4,50 6,18 25. Slovak Republic 4,50 4,40 4,33 4,26 4,20 3,64 3,19 2,78 2,80 2,49 2,49 2,75 2,78 2,90 26. Slovenia 3,58 3,54 3,97 4,02 4,02 3,83 3,78 2,95 2,76 1,99 2,24 2,21 2,49 2,49 27. Albania (2009) 6,17 2,47 2,60 2,50 2,70 1,93 2,13 2,11 2,07 1,75 1,62 1,26 1,19 1,40 28. Croatia (2009) 5,07 5,15 5,02 4,81 5,39 4,95 4,56 4,83 4,62 4,32 4,07 3,19 2,88 3,06 29. Montenegro (2017) - 7,06 5,38 3,98 3,66 3,59 3,89 3,86 3,62 3,17 3,33 3,04 3,00 3,34
World 9,96 10,20 10,32 9,83 9,86 9,31 9,13 9,00 8,84 9,30 8,46 8,66 8,07 -
![Table 2. Defense expenditures (in% of GDP) of NATO countries in the years 1960-1970 [4]](https://thumb-us.123doks.com/thumbv2/123dok_us/8221164.266034/2.482.55.431.271.434/table-defense-expenditures-gdp-nato-countries-years.webp)
![Table 3. Defense expenditures (in% of GDP) of NATO countries in the years 1971-1981 [5]](https://thumb-us.123doks.com/thumbv2/123dok_us/8221164.266034/3.482.59.428.437.637/table-defense-expenditures-gdp-nato-countries-years.webp)
![Table 6. Defense expenditures (in billion $) of NATO countries in the years 1971-1981[10]](https://thumb-us.123doks.com/thumbv2/123dok_us/8221164.266034/4.482.55.428.82.282/table-defense-expenditures-billion-nato-countries-years.webp)
![Table 7. Defense expenditures of NATO countries (% of public expenditure) in the years 1971-1981 [11]](https://thumb-us.123doks.com/thumbv2/123dok_us/8221164.266034/5.482.57.428.392.581/table-defense-expenditures-nato-countries-public-expenditure-years.webp)
![Table 10. Defense expenditures of NATO countries (% of public expenditure) 1982-1992 [15]](https://thumb-us.123doks.com/thumbv2/123dok_us/8221164.266034/6.482.57.424.84.291/table-defense-expenditures-nato-countries-public-expenditure.webp)
![Table 11. Defense expenditures of NATO countries (% of GDP) in the years 1993-2003 [16]](https://thumb-us.123doks.com/thumbv2/123dok_us/8221164.266034/7.482.57.429.401.642/table-defense-expenditures-nato-countries-gdp-years.webp)
![Table 13. Defense expenditures of NATO countries (% of public expenditure) in the years 1993-2003 [18]](https://thumb-us.123doks.com/thumbv2/123dok_us/8221164.266034/8.482.57.427.94.302/table-defense-expenditures-nato-countries-public-expenditure-years.webp)
![Table 14. Defense expenditures of NATO countries (% of GDP) in the years 2004-2017 [22]](https://thumb-us.123doks.com/thumbv2/123dok_us/8221164.266034/9.482.56.427.341.659/table-defense-expenditures-nato-countries-gdp-years.webp)
![Table 15. Defense expenditures (in billion $) of NATO countries in the years 2004-2017 [23]](https://thumb-us.123doks.com/thumbv2/123dok_us/8221164.266034/10.482.57.423.190.559/table-defense-expenditures-billion-nato-countries-years.webp)
![Table 16. Defense expenditures of NATO countries (% of public expenditure) in the years 2004-2017 [25]](https://thumb-us.123doks.com/thumbv2/123dok_us/8221164.266034/11.482.58.424.120.434/table-defense-expenditures-nato-countries-public-expenditure-years.webp)
