As global geopolitical tensions remain balanced on a knife’s edge, the debate over whether Malta should increase its defence spending has resurfaced in recent weeks.
On Thursday, EU leaders agreed on an unprecedented €800 billion defence plan following a tumultuous fortnight which culminated in a tense White House confrontation between Trump and Zelensky, following which the former withdrew military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine.
Closer to home, both the government and the opposition have attempted to tread a fine line when discussing the issue, reaffirming Malta’s constitutional neutrality while agreeing that Malta needs to spend more on its security, particularly in areas such as cybersecurity.
Meanwhile, following Thursday’s EU vote, Robert Abela insisted that Malta would not be spending more on arms or lethal weapons, saying that Malta received guarantees that the country could “stay out of it”.
But this debate is taking place against a backdrop of defence spending that, while still amongst the lowest in Europe, has already risen steadily throughout the past decade.
How much does Malta spend on defence?
A parliamentary question filed by PN MP Darren Carabott late last year reveals that the government spent €77.6m on defence in 2023.
Precisely what this money was spent on is unclear, but this amount roughly tallies with what the government had allocated for the armed forces in that year’s budget.
EU data shows that Malta’s entire defence budget is allocated to “military defence” rather than other areas such as civil defence, foreign military aid, or research and development.
By the following year, the government had upped the armed forces’ budget, allocating some €85.7m throughout 2024.
And this is set to rise again in 2025, reaching €95.5m.
EU data actually places Malta’s defence spending slightly higher, saying that it spent €85m in 2022.
Regardless of the exact figure, it is clear that Malta spends significantly less on defence than on other key policy areas such as education, healthcare, housing and public order.
Again, EU data estimates that of the €6.8 billion the Maltese government spent throughout 2022, just 1.2% went towards defence.
The only EU countries to spend less of its money on defence?
Ireland (0.9%) and Austria (1.1%), the EU’s two other neutral member states.
And if we look at how much Malta spends on defence compared to how much it earns, this drops even further.
Malta spends just a fraction of its GDP on defence, at just 0.5%, less than any other EU country except for Ireland.
Most EU countries typically spend between 1% and 1.5% of their GDP on defence although a handful of the continent’s top spenders top the 2% mark.
How has defence spending changed over the years?
According to official data, Malta upped its defence spending significantly in recent years, at least at face value.
Back in 2014, Malta spent €42.7m on defence. A decade later, this had almost doubled, reaching €77.7m in 2023.
But while the government has nearly doubled its spending on defence throughout the past decade, it has nearly doubled its spending on everything else too, from education to healthcare and social security.
Meanwhile, the country’s GDP has more than doubled during this period.
So, in practice, although Malta is spending millions more on defence today than it did a few years ago, the slice of the pie that goes towards defence is marginally smaller now than it once was.
But this slice is likely to grow in the coming years, if recent declarations are anything to go by.