Poland has unexpectedly become the leader among NATO countries in terms of military spending. According to estimates, last year’s military spending reached 3.9% of Poland’s GDP. This is the highest level among all NATO countries. Even the United States fell behind Poland – with a level of 3.5%. In Germany, this level only reached 1.6%. With NATO recommending a level of 2%, Poland has almost doubled this amount. Over 50% of this was spent on new equipment, which also puts Poland in the leading position. However, when analyzing nominal expenditures – Poland’s $29 billion only places us in the 6th spot. Countries such as Italy, Great Britain, or Germany spent $68 billion. The United States spent as much as $860 billion in 2023. Fortunately, all front-line countries bordering Ukraine – not just Poland, but also the Baltic states – have been actively increasing their military spending. Security will continue to be very important for many governments.
“It’s worth not only looking at military spending but also at the potential of the Polish economy. We have a weapon factory in Radom Łucznik, which has very actively increased its production and employment, and also has export possibilities,” said Grzegorz Sielewicz, Chief Economist of COFACE in Central and Eastern Europe, to eNewsroom.pl. “Here we can see opportunities for the arms industry. However, remember an important factor – the arms industry is a small part of the economy, it’s not a lever for the economic condition. It’s a very narrow group of entities that can support, for example, the transport industry, maybe the construction industry. But the arms industry will not contribute to the growth of the economic results of the entire economy as much as is the case in many other industries,” explains Sielewicz.
