Russia’s defense spending surges to record levels, media reports
Russia’s spending on “national defense” reached an unprecedented $43 billion in the third quarter of 2024, The Moscow Times reported on Dec. 9.
From July to September, the Russian government spent an average of $3.29 billion per week, or $19.6 million per hour, on military maintenance and arms purchases, based on an exchange rate of 100 rubles per dollar.
Both open and classified defense expenditures soared. Publicly disclosed spending totaled $13.81 billion, up 71% from the previous quarter, while classified spending surged 131% to $29.47 billion.
This marks an 80% increase compared to the second quarter and a 53% year-on-year rise.
This single-quarter defense expenditure is nearly triple Russia’s annual higher education budget of $15.46 billion and about 15 times the yearly budgets of regions such as Irkutsk ($2.7 billion) or Novosibirsk ($3.33 billion).
Spending on military salaries, including substantial bonuses for contract workers, rose by 26% year-over-year to $6.14 billion.
Additionally, expenditures on “military cooperation with foreign countries,” potentially including Iranian drones and North Korean munitions, reached a record $1.73 billion in Q3.
Russian President Vladimir Putin approved a federal budget on Dec. 1 with record defense spending over the next three years.
In 2025, military expenditures will reach 13.5 trillion rubles ($126 billion), or over 6% of GDP, exceeding combined spending on education, healthcare, social policy, and the economy.
While military spending is projected to decline slightly in 2026 and 2027, it will remain substantial at 12.8 trillion rubles ($114.9 billion) and 13.1 trillion rubles ($122.4 billion).
Boldizsar Gyori
