Russia plans to increase military spending by another 30 billion dollars in 2025 – Bloomberg

In 2025, the Russian authorities intend to increase defense spending to 13.2 trillion rubles ($142 billion) from 10.4 trillion rubles planned for this year, which will amount to 6.2% of GDP, writes Bloomberg with reference to the project of the three-year budget (the current official exchange rate in the Russian Federation is 92–93 rubles per US dollar, it is set indirectly, not through direct auctions, but through a cross exchange rate with the Chinese yuan, which is still traded).

Spending on national defense and internal security next year is expected to account for about 40% of Russia’s total budget expenditures. This is more than the combined allocations for education, health care, social policy and the national economy.

In addition, “secret spending” for classified or unspecified purposes, some of which may be included in other sections, is projected to rise to 12.9 trillion rubles in 2025, up from 11.1 trillion planned for that year. This is about 30% of the total volume of budget expenditures.

According to Bloomberg, it is planned to reduce military spending to 5.6% of GDP in 2026 and to 5.1% in 2027.

For 2024, Russia intends to spend 30% to 40% of its budget on defense and security, or about $121 billion. This is the largest amount of defense spending in the entire modern history of the country.