Defence expenditure

This consists of the total expenditure by central government and various national foundations and organisations (e.g. research institutions as far as they fall under central government) which are all allocated to the purpose of national defence, as described in COFOG-1999 classifications.

National defence comprises army, airforce and navy, as well as related activities to protect the population, international military aid (peace missions) and defence policymaking.
Expenditure on the marechaussee force is partly included in defence expenditure. Police training missions in conflict areas abroad are not counted in defence expenditure because these missions do not serve a military purpose. In order to avoid doublecounting, the amounts have been corrected for any financial flows between central government and national foundations and organisations.