Russia boosts military budget by 32%, cuts social spending
The draft budget of Russia for the upcoming year anticipates an increase in military spending to 32 percent, indicating its continued prioritization over other needs, the British Ministry of Defense reported on Wednesday.
The latest intelligence update mentioned that on September 30, the Russian government submitted the draft budget for 2025 to the State Duma. It predicts that expenditures will rise by 5 percent, excluding inflation, to 41.5 trillion rubles, equivalent to 447 billion dollars.
Increasing Russian defense spending
The proposed budget anticipates an approximately 25 percent increase in military spending in 2025 compared to 2024, making it 32 percent of all budgetary expenditures. In contrast, before the war, this percentage was 14.5 percent in the 2021 budget. The assessment indicates that the new budget shows Russia continuing to prioritize war funding over other national priorities, with spending on social goals expected to decrease by 16 percent.
"Demand continues to outpace supply in the Russian economy and the expanding budget for 2025 is highly likely to worsen this. This will almost certainly add to inflationary pressure, which remains a key issue, due to the inflation rate being approximately 9% in August 2024," the British Ministry of Defense wrote.
A graph displaying the main items in the 2025 budget draft was also provided.
A billion dollars a month on missiles. Here's Russia's spending
According to Ukrainian intelligence, Russia spends 1.1 billion dollars on missiles and 100 million on drones every month, reported Forbes magazine. The average production rate of missiles in Russia is 132-171 per month.
Russia spends the most on Kh-101 cruise missiles, which allow targeting across the entire territory of Ukraine. Each month, 585 million dollars is allocated for this, with an average production of 45 rockets of this type. Additionally, 228 million dollars are spent on Kalibr missiles, with an average monthly production of 35.
