Japan Sees Defense Budget Just Short of Target at 1.9% of GDP
A Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missile launcher at the Defence Ministry in Tokyo.
Photographer: Yuichi Yamazaki/AFP/Getty Images
Japan’s main defense budget and associated spending for the fiscal year that started in April will total ¥10.6 billion ($66.6 million), equivalent to 1.9% of national gross domestic product, just below Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s target of 2%.
Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi gave the figures during a regular press conference on Friday, and reiterated that the calculation should be made against GDP in fiscal 2022, when the goal was first set out in key ministry documents.