Croatian military expenditure had a sharp increase in 2021, due to the to the contract signed for the purchase of 12 French Dassault Rafale fighter jets at the end of the year. Before that, the expenditure did not experience any large changes, either nominally, or as a military burden. Defence expenditure has taken up around 3.50% of the total governmentexpenditure until 2021.
2021
Share of GDP 1.71%
Share of total government
expenditure 4.30%
The Croatian Parliament regularly adopts the budget for the forthcoming year in late Novemberor early December.
The Parliament also regularly adopts balance sheets and yearly Reports on Defence.
The 2021 increase is entirely attributed to the Rafale purchase at the end of the year, which resulted in a rebalance and a 49.7% rise in the planned budget. It should nevertheless be taken into account that the amount can be changed in the final balance sheet for 2021. Prior to that, there were no significant fluctuations during the year, and the initial budget was slightly underspent. Croatia spent the largest portion of its military budget on personnel; however, the above purchasemight change the planned budget structure in favour of arms and equipment.
The Croatian defence budget is the most transparent and disaggregated in the region. Unlike the budgets of other countries, the Croatian budget shows major procurements individually and breaks them down into subcategories.
* Data for 2021 and 2022 are based on the last changes in the 2021 budgets and the initial budget laws for 2022.