Japan to spend 1.8% of GDP on defence in 2025, 2% target in sight

Tokyo [Japan], April 17: Japan's defence spending and related costs for fiscal 2025 are expected to total 9.9 trillion yen ($70 billion), equivalent to 1.8 percent of gross domestic product three years earlier, Defence Minister Gen Nakatani said Tuesday, as the country endeavours to reach 2 percent by fiscal 2027.
Nakatani told a press conference that the government will allocate around 8.5 trillion yen for its defence budget and about 1.5 trillion yen for related outlays in its initial budget for the current fiscal year starting this month.
In updating the long-term National Security Strategy policy guidelines in late 2022, the government set a goal of raising the defence budget and related spending to 2 percent of that fiscal year's GDP by fiscal 2027 and pledged to obtain "counterstrike capabilities" to attack enemy territory directly in an emergency.
Having a war-renouncing Constitution, Japan had long capped its defence spending at about 1 percent of GDP, or around 5 trillion yen, but the country is increasing it in response to security challenges.
Defence spending and related costs for fiscal 2023 and 2024 were equivalent to 1.4 percent and 1.6 percent of GDP, respectively, according to the Defence Ministry.
The defence-related costs consist of spending on Japan's coast guard, United Nations peacekeeping operations and cybersecurity development, among other responsibilities.
Source: Emirates News Agency