Portuguese Military Spending in the NATO Context: A Short Illustrative Paper

Abstract

In the context of strong geopolitical tensions worldwide, this paper aims to present a brief illustrative analysis of Portuguese military spending within the NATO context. It was concluded that over the past decades, this variable has consistently remained below 2% of the GDP, with Portugal recording one of the lowest values in NATO in 2024. When broken down by component, personnel expenses represented the largest share of Portugal’s military spending and ranked among the highest in NATO. This seems to be mainly because other categories show very low levels of expenditure, possibly due to budgetary constraints. When assessed on a per capita basis or in relation to the size of the territory, personnel expenses were found to be close to the NATO average, despite Portugal having one of the lowest numbers of military personnel per 100,000 inhabitants. In contrast, equipment expenses were well below the NATO average. Thus, considering the Portuguese government’s intention to increase defense spending, it is expected that the coming years will bring greater investment in the production and/or acquisition of equipment, along with policy measures aimed at increasing the number of military personnel.