Albania triples defense spending compared to 2014 - NATO report/540 billion lek investments in 2025, equivalent to 2.01% of GDP
Albania is increasingly increasing its defense spending as part of its commitment to NATO. The North Atlantic Alliance has published a report on member countries' spending for the period 2014-2025, which highlights a significant increase in investments, especially after 2022, when Russia launched a large-scale invasion of Ukraine.
As can be seen from the graph, in the last three years, defense spending by all member states taken together has increased by 9.3% in 2023, 18.6% in 2024, and 15.9% in 2025.
NATO clarifies that the figures for 2024 and 2025 are estimates, which are expected to be achieved by member countries. Also, the number of countries that have exceeded the 2% spending target in relation to Gross Domestic Product has increased to 31 this year, out of 32 members in total.
Only Iceland, which does not have an armed force and therefore does not have a defense budget, is not included in the number of allies meeting the 2% of GDP target.
As for our country, as can be seen from the table, defense spending has almost tripled in 2025, compared to 2014. This year, the Albanian government's spending amounts to about 54 billion lek, up from about 18.7 billion lek over a decade ago.
The following graph also shows that for the first time in 16 years as a NATO member, Albania exceeded the 2% target, only in 2025, spending 2.01% of Gross Domestic Product on defense.
However, this is a temporary objective, as by 2035 member countries of the North Atlantic Alliance will have to spend 5% of Gross Domestic Product, of which 3.5% will go exclusively on defense, including weapons and military troops, while the remaining 1.5% will focus on security-related investments - such as adapting roads, bridges and ports - for military equipment and on cybersecurity.
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