Presidential guard greets visiting United States President George H.W. Bush, summer 1991.
Courtesy Press and Information Office, Embassy of Greece, Washington

Defense Expenditures

Since 1974, when Turkey began its occupation of Cypriot territory, Greece has maintained the highest level of defense expenditures as a percentage of gross national product (GNP---see Glossary) among NATO countries. More specifically, high military expenditures and intensive training have been deemed by Greece to be necessary to compensate for Turkey's quantitative advantage in military equipment and manpower. Although there is consensus among major political parties and the Greek people that this expense is necessary for national security, military expenditures constitute a heavy burden for the Greek economy.

In the early 1990s, total defense expenditures remained relatively even. Between 1992 and 1994, the amount increased from US$4.4 billion to US$4.5 billion. As a percentage of GNP, expenditures in the same period remained at 5.5 percent, compared with an average of 6.3 percent in the last years of the Cold War (1985-88). As a standard of comparison, in 1992 Turkey spent an estimated 3.6 percent of its GNP on defense, Italy 1.7 percent, and the United States 4.9 percent.

Data as of December 1994

NOTE: The information regarding Greece on this page is re-published from The Library of Congress Country Studies and the CIA World Factbook. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Greece MILITARY FUNDING AND PROCUREMENT information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Greece MILITARY FUNDING AND PROCUREMENT should be addressed to the Library of Congress and the CIA.