North Macedonian defence expenditure increased approximately 30% from 2017 to 2020. Further increases were planned after the country became a member of NATO in 2020. Before that, it was
spending roughly 1% on the military. Defence expenditure has taken up an increasing portion of the total government spending, from 2.7% in 2017 to 5.2% that was planned for 2023.
2022
Share of GDP 1.64%
Share of total government
expenditure 5.02%
The Assembly of the Republic of North Macedonia usually adopts budget laws in late December, while balance sheets are adopted regularly, with some occasional delays. The MoD regularly publishes semi-annual budget realisation reports.
North Macedonian defence budget changed in 2021, as the country signed the contract to buy Stryker light armoured vehicles. This purchase altered the budget structure in favour of arms and equipment.
Similar to other countries in the region, North Macedonia uses programme budgeting, which is not sufficiently disaggregated. Budgets and balance sheets show highly aggregated sums for different programmes, and sources of funding are presented for the entire MoD budget.
