Greece Tops Euro Area Defense Spending Amid High Debt Burden

Greece's defense spending is among the highest in the euro area, according to European Central Bank data. In 2025, Greece's military expenditure accounted for about 2.4% of its gross domestic product, making it fourth among 21 euro-area members measured by the Classification of the Functions of Government system.

The country's defense spending has increased by 5.6% in real terms from a year earlier, reaching $8.4 billion in 2025, according to separate figures from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. This puts Greece above Slovakia, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain in terms of defense spending as a share of GDP.

Philip R. Lane, a member of the ECB's Executive Board, presented the figures at the EEA-ESEM Annual Meetings in Dublin on August 17. His presentation examined the effects of Europe's expanding defense budgets.

The ECB also compared European Commission figures with NATO estimates, which place Greece among the euro area's heavier defense spenders. Greece has been a leading defense spender relative to GDP within NATO, ranking fifth in the alliance by that measure in 2025.