Cyprus defence expenditure at 1.8 per cent of GDP

Cyprus’ general government expenditure on defence in 2019 stood at 1.8 per cent of GDP, the fourth highest rate in the EU27 after Estonia, Greece and Latvia, according to figures published by Eurostat on Friday.

The EU27 average was 1.2 per cent.

Eurostat said that in 2019, the EU Member States’ general government expenditure on defence amounted to €168.5 billion, representing 2.6 per cent of total general government expenditure. This is equivalent to 1.2 per cent of GDP.

Since 2014, the share of defence expenditure in total government expenditure increased slightly, while the percentage of GDP remained stable at 1.2 per cent of GDP.

In 2019, the ratio of general government expenditure on defence to GDP varied across EU Member States from 0.2 per cent in Ireland and 0.4 per cent in Luxembourg to 2.0 per cent in Greece and 2.1 per cent in Estonia.

As regards Cyprus, the figure stood at 1.8 per cent of GDP in 2019, down on 1.9 per cent and 2.1 per cent in 2018 and 2017 but above the 1.6, 1.5 and 1.5 levels of 2014, 2015 and 2016 respectively.