The reported spending will include statutory readiness and preparedness duties, as well as capabilities critical to homeland defence that are maintained and developed by branches of government outside the Ministry of Defence. These costs are estimated to reach 2.4% of gross domestic product in 2026.
“Total defence is an essential element of Finland’s defence. Traditionally, Finland has always sought to ensure the resilience of our civil society, and now we have stepped up our efforts,” Häkkänen said.
“The fact that we are able to exceed the NATO target already this year, the first year of reporting, shows that we take total defence seriously,” he added.
At the 2025 NATO Summit in The Hague, allies committed to investing 5% of GDP annually in defence. The commitment includes at least 3.5% of GDP for core defence requirements and up to 1.5% for defence- and security-related spending, with each ally expected to meet the new target by 2035.
Under NATO’s agreed definition of defence expenditure, Finland’s 3.5% target includes the defence budget, which covers the Ministry of Defence’s branch of government. It also includes parts of the Finnish Border Guard’s expenditure, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs’ share of military crisis management operations and defence administration retirement pension payments.
“The 1.5 per cent target for defence- and security-related spending includes the costs of such activities as enabling the execution of operations plans, strengthening the defence industrial base, promoting innovation in the defence sector, safeguarding civil preparedness and resilience, and supporting Ukraine,” Häkkänen said.
“All these we have been promoting with determination,” he added.
The reporting is based on cross-government preparation led by the Ministry of Defence. The ministry is responsible for coordinating Finland’s total defence.
The Finnish Ministry of Defence said exceeding NATO’s 1.5% target will not affect Finland’s effort to reach the 3.5% target for core defence spending. The two targets remain separate parts of the wider NATO spending commitment.
