The Netherlands spends 1,100 euros per citizen on defense, the US more than twice as much
Last year, the Netherlands spent 1,105 euros per inhabitant on defense. This puts the Netherlands in seventh place of all 32 NATO countries when it comes to defense spending per inhabitant, reports Statistics Netherlands.
The US is at the top with the equivalent of 2600 euros per American. Norway, Denmark, Finland, Sweden and the UK are between the US and the Netherlands.
The Netherlands spent 19.9 billion euros on defense last year. To put that into perspective: NATO as a whole put 1362 billion euros into the military. The US contribution to this was around 894 billion euros.
Defense in the Netherlands for defensePer capita, the NATO average is almost 1400 euros. Without the US contribution, the NATO average is 733 euros. Defense spending per capita in the Netherlands is somewhere in between.
"America is also a very different country," says CBS chief economist Peter Hein van Mulligen. "Defense in the Netherlands and other countries is primarily focused on the defense of their own country and the immediate surroundings. America is much more internationally active in all kinds of hotbeds and defense has always had a much more important role in society there."
Below is the entire NATO ranking. Iceland does not have its own army and is therefore not included.
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In this overview it is important to note that in one country more can be done with a euro than in another. For example, to pay the wages of soldiers and to make local expenses, you need less money in Romania than in the Netherlands, according to the CBS.
Expenditures in countries such as Poland, Estonia and Latvia in particular are much higher when corrected for these differences in purchasing power. Poland thus rises to third place of all 32 NATO countries, the Netherlands drops from seventh to tenth place.
NATO standardFor the first time since the early 1990s, the Netherlands once again meets the NATO standard, which has been discussed frequently in recent years. Expenditures amounted to just over 2 percent of the size of the economy, or gross domestic product (GDP). The standard is 2 percent.
If this standard is the starting point, the Netherlands is in twentieth place. At the top is Poland with 4.1 percent. Estonia and the US share second place with 3.4 percent.
Even more money for defenseThe standard in the Netherlands is expected to increase even further. Yesterday it became clear that the vast majority of the House of Representatives agrees with the caretaker cabinet's plans to increase the standard to 3.5 percent. In addition, there is another 1.5 percent for expenditure on supporting matters such as infrastructure or cyber security.
After the Russian invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago, defense spending in many countries has increased. The US has remained relatively high.
GreeceIt is striking that Greece has started to invest a lot less money in defense. "It is true that Greece was one of the NATO countries whose defense spending was well above 2 percent of GDP. That probably has to do with the historical rivalry with Turkey," Van Mulligen explains.
"The relationship between Greece and Turkey has improved in recent years and the Greek government has also put a lot of effort into getting its public finances under control. Cutting back on defense is a relatively easy cut," according to the chief economist of the CBS. Greece, with defense spending of 3.1 percent of GDP, remains well above the NATO standard.
Next week the NATO summit will be held in the Netherlands. The video below shows what preparations have been made:
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