Netherlands spent over €1,100 per capita on defense last year; 7th in NATO

Only Americans, Britons, Scandinavians, and Finns spend more on defense in NATO than the Dutch. Per capita, the Netherlands spent over 1,100 euros last year, according to figures from Statistics Netherlands (CBS).

That puts the Dutch in seventh place in the 32-country alliance. The Americans are a comfortable number one with over 2,600 euros in 2024. They are followed by the Nordic countries, Norwegians, Danes, Finns, and Swedes. The British also spend more than the Dutch.

However, the Poles, Estonians, Germans, and Lithuanians can get more value for the money they invest in defense. Prices and wages are lower there, so purchasing power is higher. If CBS takes this into account, the Dutch are in tenth place.

The NATO countries are currently negotiating a substantial increase in the defense budget to 3.5 percent of the size of the economy, plus another 1.5 percent for supporting matters. The United States was just below 3.5 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) last year. The Netherlands did not get further than 2 percent. The U.S. has been complaining for some time that it spends more on defense than its European NATO allies.

If the Netherlands goes to 3.5 percent, that will cost an extra 16 to 19 billion euros per year, the Ministry of Defense calculated. That is quickly a thousand euros extra per capita per year.

The lower house of the Dutch parliament is virtually united in its support for increasing the NATO standard to 5 percent, though the parties differ greatly in their opinion about how it should all be paid for. This became apparent during a debate on Tuesday.

The PVV wants to increase the debt in order to meet the standard. The VVD wants to look at government spending first. GroenLinks-PvdA is willing to look at spending, but won’t accept cuts on things like healthcare, education, and social security. Sustainability must also be spared. The ChristenUnie does not want to rule out a tax increase. NSC wants to spare the security of existence.

Only SP, DENK, and FvD are against increasing defense spending. The latter party wants to leave NATO because it has become an "offensive" organization. The PvdD does want to spend more money on defense, but does not see any point in the NATO standard. The SP only wants to invest in cybersecurity and intelligence capacity.