Estonia adjusts projected defence spending to exceed 4% of GDP in 2026

Estonia projects that it's defense spending will exceed 4% of its gross domestic product (GDP) in 2026.

This forecast was provided by the country's Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur, Caliber.Az reports citing Estonian ERR.

"I can confirm that next year's amount will significantly exceed 4% of GDP. The exact figure will depend on the economic forecast," Pevkur stated.

Under the current version of the state budget strategy, defense expenditures for 2026 were initially set at 3.7% of GDP, which already is a significantly higher percentage then what other NATO countries spend. According to the minister, the final amount will be influenced by NATO’s agreed capabilities, which will be determined in June 2025. Additionally, Estonia will assess the specific needs of its Defense Forces, including military planning and costs related to hosting allied troops.

"We will be ready in a couple of weeks to present the government with our initial calculations for defense spending over the next four years," Pevkur added.

As Caliber.Az points out, his statement comes at a time when the transatlantic military alliance undergoes a deep internal rift as the new US administration has openly critcized NATO's European members for not spending enough on their defence capabilities, especially in light of Russia's assault on Ukraine.

The US Defence Secetary Pete Hegseth has urged the alliance's members to increase their defense spending during his first appearance at NATO headquarters in Brussels last week. While defence experts have long agreed that the current NATO target of 2% is inadequate, the new secretary talked about an increase to 5% of defense spending of GDP, a figure much higher than 3.5% which is the number that has been murmured in recent months during similiar discussions around Europe. 

By Nazrin Sadigova