The Swedish government has proposed for consideration by its legislature a total defense bill that allocates $16.2 billion for military spending and $3.4 billion for civil defense from 2025 to 2030. The defense allocations presented to the Riksdag are “historically large investments” projected to represent 2.6 percent of Sweden’s 2028 GDP, Stockholm said in a statement Tuesday.
In its 2025 budget bill announced in September, the government proposed an additional military defense funding of about $63 million that would bring Sweden’s total military allocation to over $2.43 billion, an increase of 28 percent at $10.72 billion from $8.24 billion in 2023. The allocation doubles the country’s military appropriations since 2020 and makes Sweden compliant with NATO guidelines to commit 2 percent of national GDP to defense spending.
“This is a powerful defence resolution that will give the total defense more strength and better balance,” said Minister for Defence Pål Jonson. . Now the efforts to step up the pace of the defence’s growth continue.”
The planned increase in Swedish military spending factors in the country’s recent NATO membership and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
To boost its NATO stature, Sweden plans to establish four new brigades and increase conscripts to 10,000 by 2030. A 12,000 recruitment target is envisioned between 2032 and 2035 that would require increased training and costs.
The proposed military budget also allocates reinforcements for the military branches, including combat vehicle updates for the army, expanded coastal missile capability for the navy, and additional reconnaissance and fighter aircraft for the air force.