The Estonian government approved the draft state budget for 2026, in which the defense costs have reached an unprecedented level – 5% of GDP. According to local media, the total budget deficit will be 4.5% of the GDP. According to the submitted data, in 2026, Estonia budget revenues are predicted at the level of 18.6 billion euros, while expenses will amount to 19.5 billion euros. The key area of cost growth will be to increase the funding of the defense sector, which will be additionally allocated 844.5 million euros next year.
, in order to compensate for additional expenses, the government plans to revise a number of unreasonable budget articles. The wage fund totaling about 20 million euros.
The formation of a budget with this level of deficit was made possible thanks to the mitigation of the rules of budget discipline within the EU. As emphasized, a deficiency of 4.5% of GDP will become one of the highest for the country in recent years.