Economists Want More Money for the Military in the German Federal Budget

Some 78 percent of the economists surveyed call for spending 2 percent or more of Germany’s economic output on defense. “If Germany is to meet its obligations to its NATO partners over the long term, the federal government must create room for maneuver in its core budget now,” says ifo military expert Marcel Schlepper. A large majority of participants support an increase in the defense budget in 2024, including in the core budget. Regarding how to finance the additional defense spending in the medium term, 71 percent of respondents said through re-allocation of resources from other ministries, 33 percent said higher taxes, and 16 percent said new debt.

For other ministries, however, economists are in favor of cuts: in the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (40 percent), the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (38 percent), and the Federal Foreign Office (27 percent). “A large portion of the spending by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, for example, includes transfers that benefit only the recipients,” Potrafke said. “If we spend a lot on transfers, there’s less money for other issues.”