Serbia ranks third in the Balkans and first in the territory of the former Yugoslavia when it comes to defense spending, according to the results of research by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
Greece and Romania continue to spend the most, while Moldova, Montenegro and so-called Kosovo, and the analysis shows that, in line with European trends, military budgets continue to grow in (almost) all Balkan states.
How much does Serbia and how much do countries in the region spend on defense?
According to SIPRI data, Serbia spent 2.13 billion dollars in 2023, which is about 400 million more than the previous year.
According to this parameter, Serbia takes the convincing first place in the Western Balkans, since it spends more on defense than the remaining five countries and entities combined.
Second place is taken by Albania with 397 million, followed by North Macedonia (266 million), Bosnia and Herzegovina (216 million), the so-called Kosovo (133 million) and Montenegro (114 million).
When it comes to the entire Balkans, the first place is traditionally occupied by Greece, which spends about 7.73 billion dollars on defense. Romania is ahead of Serbia, which allocates 5.61 billion dollars for the army.
However, Serbia is ahead of Bulgaria (1.92 billion), Croatia (1.44 billion) and Slovenia (907 million). At the very back in the wider region is Moldova, which annually allocates only 93 million dollars for defense.
Although most of the countries in the Balkans are members of NATO, only one of them respects the rule that stipulates that members of the alliance should spend two percent of their gross domestic product (GDP) on defense.
We are talking, of course, about Greece, which traditionally allocates significantly more than that amount to defense – during 2023, Athens spent 3.23 percent of GDP for this purpose.
Several countries are close to the two percent threshold, but are still “short”: Bulgaria (1.85), Croatia (1.78), Albania (1.74) and North Macedonia (1.7). They are followed by Montenegro (1.63), Romania (1.61) and Slovenia (1.34).
At the very bottom of the list are states and entities that are not members of the Alliance: the so-called Kosovo (1.25), BiH (0.81) and Moldova (0.55), which is again at the back.
It is interesting that, according to this parameter, Serbia ranks second in the Balkans, with as much as 2.85 percent of GDP allocated to defense.
Who increased the military budget the most?
The increase in defense spending was recorded in almost all European countries, so the Balkans are no exception.
The highest percentage increase in the military budget was recorded in Moldova, which spends twice as much on defense as in 2022. It is followed by Albania, whose defense budget increased by 73 percent.
They are followed by Bulgaria (+34), BiH (+30) and Serbia (+34) and the so-called Kosovo (+23). The military budget of North Macedonia increased by 21 percent, that of Slovenia by 17 percent, and that of Croatia and Montenegro by 16 percent each.
Romanians spend “only” eight percent more on defense than in 2022, while the drop in the military budget was recorded only in Greece – which spends 11 percent less compared to the previous year.
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