Eight years after making the commitment to increase its defense spending to the 2% of GDP, Spain continues not to fulfill what was promised at the 2014 Cardiff Summit. Since then, neither of the two Prime Ministers who have been in La Moncloa, that is, neither Mariano Rajoy nor Pedro Sánchez, have fulfilled an objective that has been seen more as a recommendation than as a requirement.
Now, however, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has caused countries like the UK to ask more involvement to his allies.
How much budget is allocated to Defense?
Figures change depending on the source. In 2021, the last year in which data from the Ministry of Defense and NATO can be correlated, Spain invested, according to the 2021 General State Budget (PGE), 9,412 million euros, that is, a 0.78% of GDP. According to the military organization, the allocated budget was 12,208 million euros, 1.03% of Spanish GDP, which causes a dance in the figures that can only be explained by the inclusion, or not, of various external organizations.
How much will Spain invest in 2022?
The latest PGE foresee a significant rise in defense spending. Specifically, and according to data from the ministry, 7.9%. In this way, Spain will reach 10,155 million euros in 2022, that is, a 0.8% of your GDP.
However, according to the latest data published by NATO, in 2022 Spain allocated 13,136 million euros to defense, that is, 1.01% of its GDP.
When does Spain expect to reach the goal?
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Sánchez has expressed on several occasions his intention to reach that 2% of GDP in Defense “in the coming years”, but at the moment there is no definitive calendar and the idea is meet target by 2029. To do this, and according to NATO calculations, which are more optimistic than those of the PGE, Spain should practically double spending in defense over the next seven years, that is, invest at least 11,000 million euros more to reach 24,000.
Has the 2% been met at any time?
Not since the compromise was reached at the Cardiff Summit in 2014. At that time, Spain allocated 5,743 million euros to Defense, that is, the 0.55% of your GDP, according to data from the ministry. The historical evolution indicates that in 2016 the minimum was reached with 0.52% of GDP and 5,785 million, but it was from the following year, 2017, when Spain began to significantly increase its investment. That year it went to 0.66% of GDP and almost 2,000 million euros more were invested in Defense (7,635 million).
