General government defence expenditure as a percentage of GDP, Eurostat 2023.
EU government defence expenditure is ranked by member state as a share of GDP for 2023. The ranking uses 10 member-state percentages from Eurostat’s COFOG defence expenditure source, and each row uses its own GDP denominator. Latvia ranked first at 3.1% of GDP, followed by Estonia at 2.7% and Lithuania at 2.5%. Latvia’s ratio was 2.38 times the EU average of 1.3% and 15.5 times Ireland’s 0.2% value.
| Rank | Entry | Value | Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Latvia | 3.1% | 2023 |
| 2 | Estonia | 2.7% | 2023 |
| 3 | Lithuania | 2.5% | 2023 |
| 4 | Greece | 2.2% | 2023 |
| 5 | Poland | 2.1% | 2023 |
| 6 | Cyprus | 1.9% | 2023 |
| 7 | Hungary | 1.9% | 2023 |
| 8 | France | 1.8% | 2023 |
| 9 | Denmark | 1.8% | 2023 |
| 10 | Sweden | 1.8% | 2023 |
Source 1: Eurostat
Publisher: Eurostat
Dataset/table: Eurostat statistical database
Units: percent of GDP
Date checked: 2026-05-26
Evidence: Provides the highest EU member-state defence-expenditure shares of GDP and EU average for 2023.
Source 2: Eurostat
Publisher: Eurostat
Dataset/table: Eurostat statistical database
Units: percent of GDP
Date checked: 2026-05-26
Evidence: Explains COFOG scope, latest year and comparability notes.
Eurostat COFOG defence expenditure is a government-finance classification and is not directly comparable with NATO defence-spending methodology.
Use Eurostat’s member-state percentages of GDP and rank from highest to lowest; no top-n share is computed because each row has its own GDP denominator.
All rows use Eurostat’s 2023 COFOG source family. Eurostat marks some 2023 values as provisional.
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