France’s Defense Budget Breakdown 2018-27
France’s defense budget rose significantly during the historic period, from $50.3 billion in 2018 to $56.4 billion in 2021. The current budget stands at $59.0 billion and is expected to grow to $68.0 billion by 2027. These budget increases are in line with the projections set out in the Military Planning Law 2019-2025 (LPM), which anticipated an annual rise of EUR1.7 billion between 2019 and 2022, followed by a EUR3.0 billion annual rise from 2023. This has also allowed the French government to meet its defense budgeting commitments to NATO, with total expenditures having met the 2% of GDP mark since 2020.
The defense budget is forecast to grow steadily to reach $68.0 billion by 2027. This equates to a positive CAGR of 3.0% over the forecast period. However, emerging priorities or financial constraints may affect forecasts between 2026 and 2027, as the creation of a new Military Programming Law defining future procurement objectives will likely reflect those currently undefined factors.
The acquisition budget is forecast to grow from its 2022 figure of $17.2 billion to $22.5 billion in 2027. This once again reflects the scale of several current modernization initiatives outlined in the LPM 2019–25, such as the Scorpion armored vehicle program, the PANG aircraft carrier, and the development of a new generation of SSBNs to reinforce France’s nuclear-deterrence capabilities. The deterioration of European security following the Russian invasion of Ukraine is likely to reinforce this trend over the coming years as the current administration has indicated a commitment to expanding the French defense industry over the forecast period.
Domestic Modernization Programs
Following the adoption of the Loi de Programmation Militaire (Military Planning Law) 2019–25 budgeting program in 2018, France has been incrementally increasing its defense spending as part of a wider effort to modernize and upgrade the platforms and equipment employed by the various branches of the armed forces, particularly the French Army. This was done to reflect the French high command’s recent macro-strategic shift towards preparing the French military for high intensity conflicts involving peer-level adversaries. Indeed, the French armed forces have seen their defense budgets rise by 2.1% annually between 2019 and 2022, with significant boosts in financial allocations to both acquisitions and domestic R&D programs, such as the ongoing SCORPION, AIF, and SLAM-F projects.
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