STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – The Swedish government will in its upcoming budget bill for 2026 increase funds for the armed forces by 26.6 billion crowns ($2.87 billion), Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said on Monday.
“We are now taking the next big step in the equipping of the Swedish defence,” he told a news conference. “We have increased the defense budget by 100 billion kronor since 2022. It is unprecedented unless you go back to the very worst days of the Cold War,” he said.
The right-wing government coalition, which holds a majority in parliament, is due to submit its budget bill on September 22.
The hike represents an 18% increase compared to the 2025 budget and will take Sweden’s defence spending to 2.8% of GDP in 2026, bringing it closer to the new NATO target of 3.5% of GDP for core defence spending. The government expects the spending to hit 3.1% in 2028.
The increased funds will be spent on new materiel, such as air defence, rocket artillery, combat ships, and tactical transport planes. It will also be used to hike salaries for officers and conscripts.
($1 = 9.2819 Swedish crowns)
(Reporting by Johan Ahlander, Anna Ringstrom and Essi Lehto, editing by Louise Rasmussen, Aidan Lewis)
