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| Albanian military |
Albania is set to increase its defense spending by a hundred million euros in the coming years, indicating a departure from the time when the country was looking to save resources in this sector to invest in economic and social development. The defense expenditure plans for the 2024 state budget, published on the Albanian Parliament's website, point to a substantial surge in expenditures for military bases, arms, ammunition, and the procurement of costly air defense systems, drones from Turkey, and a transponder system worth over 30 million euros to be installed on Blackhawk helicopters.
A modest military base in the Bizë area of the Tirana Highlands is expected to be transformed into a complex worth nearly 15 million euros. Furthermore, the Pashaliman naval base is set to undergo investments in bank construction and deepening of the basin, with an estimated value of around 5 million euros.
These new planned investments add to the existing investment program, which includes the purchase of unmanned aerial vehicles worth 75 million euros, a program initiated in 2022, and the construction of a shooting range in Pajet, valued at over 2 million euros.
In total, the defense investment program for the 2022-2028 period reaches almost 800 million euros.
For the year 2024, Albania is expected to allocate 33 billion leks (approximately 310 million euros) for the defense sector, marking a considerable 27% increase compared to the 2023 budget. The rise in defense spending is substantial, especially considering that the general budget expenses are only expected to increase by 7.1%.
However, despite this noteworthy growth, defense expenditures remain significantly below the NATO standard. Albania, a NATO member since 2009, has never met the minimum 2% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) quota for defense spending. The planned 33 billion leks for 2024 amount to just 1.35% of Albania's GDP, while the NATO member countries agreed to allocate 2% of their GDP to defense in 2006.
In fact, Albania has never met this minimal quota throughout its history, and defense expenditures over the past decade have been far below the GDP percentage. To reach the minimum 2% of GDP, defense spending would need to be approximately 49 billion leks.
According to NATO data, Poland, the United States, and Greece are among the NATO member countries with the highest defense spending, exceeding 3% of their GDP. The United States and Greece have maintained such high expenditure quotas for many years, while Poland has dramatically increased its spending in recent years, primarily due to Russia's aggression against Ukraine.
Albania maintains a small army with a personnel of 6,600 individuals, making it the fifth smallest army among NATO member countries, excluding Iceland, which is the only NATO member without armed forces.
The United States, with 1.34 million troops, and Turkey, with 461,000, have the largest armies among member countries.
NATO calculations show that, as of 2023, Albania is the NATO member with the lowest defense spending per capita. Defense costs Albanian citizens $93 per year, while in North Macedonia, it costs $114, and in Montenegro, $151. In contrast, defense costs Americans $2,220 per year, and Norwegians, $1,339. Large countries like Germany and France have been criticized for low expenditures for years. Defense costs German citizens $677 per year, while it costs the French $737.