On Thursday 28 January, the European Defence Agency (EDA) announced that the total defence expenditure by the 26 EDA Member States – all of the EU Member States except Denmark – amounted to €186 billion in 2019, a 5% increase compared to 2018.
This is the highest amount recorded by the Agency since it started collecting data in 2006.
Total defence spending corresponds to 1.4% of the 26 EDA Member States’ gross domestic product (GDP) and marks the fifth consecutive year of growth.
The Agency notes wide variations in the growth in defence spending between Member States, ranging between 0.01% and 125%. In total, 23 of the Member States raised defence spending compared to 2018, including four by more than €1 billion, while three reduced their spending. The Member States are not identified by name in the report.
The EDA Member States spent €41.4 billion on defence investments (research and development and purchasing equipment), 19% more than in 2018. Of this investment, 83.1% was spent on acquiring new equipment, whereas funding for defence R&D remained limited to 16.9%.
Defence Research and Technology (R&T) spending amounted to €1.7 billion, an increase of 13% compared to 2018. However, this represents only 0.9% of total defence spending, a long way short of the target of allocating 2% of total defence expenditure to defence R&T.
Spending on collaborative defence – at €7 billion – fell by 6% in 2019 compared to 2017. Member States conducted 20% of their total equipment procurement in cooperation with other EU Member States, a long way short of the target of 35%. Member States spent €141 million on defence R&T projects in cooperation with other EU Member States, the lowest level of collaborative spending ever measured by the Agency.
The Agency’s report can be found at: https://bit.ly/2My6Iiy (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)