Japan's Defense Budget Hits Record 70 Trillion Won... 1.3% of GDP

'1000 Trillion Won Budget' Confirmed

According to Kyodo News, the Japanese government’s budget proposal, which allocates the largest-ever defense spending, was passed and finalized at the House of Councillors plenary session on the 28th.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The total general account expenditure for the 2024 fiscal year is approximately 1,000 trillion yen, marking the second-largest scale following last year’s approximately 1,014 trillion yen.

Defense spending reached a record high of about 7.07 trillion yen.

The Japanese government, which is pursuing the possession of "counterattack capabilities" that can strike enemy bases in emergencies and strengthening its defense forces, has allocated the largest-ever defense budget for 2024 following the previous year.

About 650 billion yen of the defense budget will be used for the development and acquisition of long-range artillery missiles, which are means of counterattack capability.

Kyodo News expects the 2024 defense budget to amount to 1.3% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) for the same year.

The Japanese government plans to increase the defense-related budget to 2% of GDP by the 2027 fiscal year.

Social security expenses reached a record high of approximately 335.6 trillion yen due to increased costs from low birth rates and an aging population.

Social security expenses account for one-third of the total budget proposal.