Page 159 - 2018 Defense White Paper

[ Chart 4-14 ] Defense Budget Trend over the Past Five Years (Original Budget)

10.04 9.98 10.04 10.07 10.06

43.2
40.3
38.8
37.5
35.7 7.0
4.9
4.0 4.0
3.6
2.4 2.39 2.37 2.33 2.38 Defense budget (KRW trillion)
Defense budget–to–total
government spending ratio (%)
Defense budget increase rate (%)
Defense budget to GDP ratio (%)
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

The defense budget to GDP ratio of each country tends to be proportional to the sever ity of
the secur ity threats that it faces. As [Chart 4-15] shows, countries facing a relatively low level of Chapter 4

security threats, such as France, the United Kingdom, Japan, China, and Germany, spend about
1-2% of their GDP on defense budget. In comparison, countries involved in conf licts or military

confrontations, such as Israel, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan, spend more than
3% of their GDP on defense budget.
In 2017, the ROK’s defense budget to GDP ratio came to 2.33%, which is higher than the
world average of 1.99% but lower than those of nations involved in conf licts or military

confrontations.

Section 6 Securing an Adequate Defense Budget and Enhancing the Efficiency of Defense Budget Management 157