Japan’s defense 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, Defense Minister Gen Nakatani said Tuesday, as the country endeavors to reach 2 percent by fiscal 2027.
Nakatani told a press conference that the government will allocate around 8.5 trillion yen for its defense 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 defense 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 defense spending at about 1 percent of GDP, or around 5 trillion yen, but the country is increasing it in response to security challenges such as China’s rapid military buildup and North Korea’s missile and nuclear development.
The latest estimate was released at a time when the United States under President Donald Trump has been increasing pressure on its allies, including Japan, South Korea and NATO members, to shoulder more of the costs for their defense and for hosting U.S. military forces.
The figures “show our efforts to strengthen our defense capabilities are steadily progressing” toward the target, Nakatani said.
Defense 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 Defense Ministry. When comparing the latest 9.9 trillion yen to an estimated GDP for fiscal 2025, the ratio is 1.6 percent, Nakatani added.
As for the percentages for fiscal 2028 and later, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has said that they “may top 2 percent, if needed” in the context of the security environment at that time.
The defense-related costs consist of spending on Japan’s coast guard, United Nations peacekeeping operations and cybersecurity development, among other responsibilities.
Trump, who returned to the White House in January, has repeatedly complained the U.S.-Japan security treaty is unfair and one-sided, a stance he has maintained since his first four-year term starting in 2017.
Elbridge Colby, new U.S. undersecretary of defense for policy, demanded Tokyo raise its defense spending to 3 percent of GDP as early as possible before he officially took up the post last week.
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