Germany plans to double its defense spending within five years

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Germany will more than double its military spending by the turn of the decade under a new defense spending proposal approved by the government this week.

In total, Germany plans to spend €649 billion ($761 billion) on the military over the coming five years. It marks a continuation of a historic shift that began with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and led to Berlin loosening the purse strings and overhauling its approach to military might.

The budget plan would see Germany hit NATO’s newly increased spending target of 3.5% of gross domestic product by 2029 by ramping up defense expenditures every year. For this year, Berlin allocated €86 billion ($101 billion) to its military, equivalent to 2.4% of GDP (that number is €95 billion, $111 billion, when including aid to Ukraine). In 2029, this is expected to be €162 billion ($190 billion, including aid to Ukraine).

The spending plan includes a provision of €9 billion ($10.6 billion) for Ukraine annually, as Germany continues to cement its role as a leading supporter of Kyiv in light of U.S. disinterest and potential disengagement, as well as the continued Russian onslaught along the frontline and from the air.

The spending spree will be financed by a wave of borrowing totaling €400 billion ($469 billion) over the next five years. This, in turn, has been enabled by a constitutional reform that loosened Germany’s notoriously stringent debt rules to allow for loans to be taken for military spending and some infrastructure projects. Germany’s “debt brake” provision normally limits borrowing to 0.35% of GDP.

Net government borrowing will jump to €81.8 billion in 2025, up from €33.3 billion last year.

A part of the funding will also come out of what’s left of the “special fund” of €100 billion ($117 billion) created by the previous administration of Chancellor Scholz in the immediate aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It will be depleted by 2027.

Some members of Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s own coalition have questioned the rapid spending uptick, with a group of left-leaning Social Democrats calling percentage-based military spending targets “irrational” in a recently published manifesto on keeping the peace in Europe.

On the flip side, the Green party has accused the government of budget “tricks,” arguing the plan breaks promises about dedicating special funds to additional investments rather than replacing existing spending.

Merz has set out the goal of making the Bundeswehr “the strongest conventional army in Europe.” The chancellor defended the increases this week, telling the Bundestag, Germany’s parliament, that higher military investment serves “not to do the United States a favor — but because Russia actively threatens the freedom of the entire Euro-Atlantic area.”