After 20 years, the Czech Republic will meet its commitment to spend at least 2 % of GDP on defence in 2024. A total of CZK 177.1 billion has been allocated for the defence expenditure of the state, i.e. not only the Ministry of Defence but also other institutions, while CZK 166.8 billion has been spent, which is 2.09 % of GDP according to the macroeconomic forecast of the Ministry of Finance of the Czech Republic from November 2024 (this is still an estimate).
However, the final assessment of defence spending, i.e. its recognition, will only take place in NATO during the second quarter of 2025, both in terms of the nominal amount of spending and in relation to the current GDP figures for 2024.
The highest part of defence expenditure was spent by the Ministry of Defence, which managed CZK 164.3 billion. The final spending reached CZK 159.0 billion, i.e. 96.8 %. CZK 5.3 billion remained underspent. Of this, CZK 4 billion remains in the 'fund' for financing strategic projects in future years in accordance with the law on defence financing. In total, 42.3 billion CZK have been spent on financing strategic projects in 2024.
"Compared to 2023, this is more than a 1.5-fold increase in spending, which is the result of efficiency measures taken. We have achieved this with approximately the same number of service staff as in 2015, when the investment budget was almost 15 times lower," said the Minister of Defence Jana Cernochová. "I would like to thank all my colleagues, whether in the civilian or military part, who have contributed to this. It was not easy at all. And I also want to thank Petr Fiala and my colleagues in the government for taking our defence seriously."
Thus, the Ministry of Defence alone has spent 1.99 % of GDP according to the macroeconomic forecast of November 2024. Defence spending by other institutions amounted to CZK 12.8 billion, while they did not spend CZK 5.0 billion, which is 38.9 % of the allocated funds for defence spending.
In addition to the funds earmarked for financing strategic projects, CZK 1.3 billion will be transferred in the budget of the Ministry of Defence until 2025 in the following categories:
- CZK 0.1 billion of the total CZK 45.2 billion in current expenditure (excluding personal mandatories). The funds will be used to refinance existing commitments to be paid in the first months of 2025 or to provide financing for newly arising needs that were not known at the time of budgeting,
- in the area of investment expenditure, an amount of CZK 0.4 billion out of a total of CZK 29.6 billion. The main reason for this is the resources for the refinancing of the concluded contracts in 2024,
- in the area of mandated personnel expenditure, an amount of CZK 0.7 billion out of a total of CZK 42.6 billion to ensure that recruitment of quality and motivated staff is maintained this year,
- in the area of current expenditure on research, development and innovation, the amount of CZK 0.1 billion out of the total of CZK 0.6 billion, on the basis of requests from researchers to complete tasks already started.
As part of the closure of the 2024 financial year, unspent pension funds of approximately CZK 61 million will be cleared with the state budget. These amounts are not part of the entitlements from unspent expenditures according to the Law on Budgetary Rules.
The achievement of the milestone in the fulfilment of the international commitment to NATO in the amount of 2 % of GDP is perceived by the Ministry of Defence as a minimum criterion that needs to be met repeatedly. It has been preparing for and paying maximum attention to the regular fulfilment of this target for a long time.
MINISTRY OF DEFENCE OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC/ gnews - RoZ
English 
Czech 
Spanish 
French 
Italian 
German