On the occasion of the recent Summit of the AIA, the 32 NATO countries reached an agreement to increase the expenses intended for defense from 2 to 5% of the GDP. The text of the final declaration provides that the “allies will allocate at least 3.5% of the annual GDP, by 2035, to finance the fundamental requirements of defense and to meet NATO’s capacity objectives”. As for Italy, in ten years there would be from the current 45 billion (equal to about 2% of the GDP) of which 35 billion in defense and 10 in safety, to 145 billion (100 billion in defense and 45 in safety).
At this point the question is: where do we start from? How much does Italy spend for defense? The final expenses of the Ministry of Defense authorized by the Budget Law 2025-2027 (law 207/2024) for 2025 are equal to 31.298,4 millions of euros, in terms of competence, and represent more than 3 percent (3.4%) of the final costs of the state budget. However, it should be remembered that the state expenditure is financed directly with the resources of the Ministry of Defense, but also with funds allocated on expenditure chapters provided for in the financial statements of other ministries. In particular, the Ministry of Business and Made in Italy are involved, especially in relation to the financing of weapon programs, and that of the Economy, for the fund relating to international missions.
Another source to consult is the multi-year programmatic document for the defense for the three-year period 2024-2026. In fact, a part of this document is dedicated to the programming of the defense, with the indication of the programs of expected start, those operating and the further priority needs to be financed. The DPP recalls that the Budget Law for 2024 (law 213/2023) authorized for the state of forecast of the Ministry of Defense Final expenses, in terms of competence, for 29,184.2 million euros in 2024, 28,875.5 for 2025 and 28,745.4 for 2026. With reference to the financial year 2024, the budget forecasts highlight, if compared to the comparison with the 2023, an increase in absolute value of approximately 1,435.7 million euros on the three main sectors of spending by the Ministry (staff, exercise and investment).
