ROME — Italy is spending €31.3 billion ($36.2 billion) on defense this year, the country’s defense ministry has announced in a long awaited budget document released on Thursday.

The figure is up 7.2% on last year’s spending of just over €29 billion, but is set to remain stable in 2026 and 2027, the ministry stated.

Italy has come under pressure this year to increase spending, as NATO calls on members to hit 5% of GDP by 2035, up from a previous target of 2%.

Italy’s spending last year amounted to only 1.54% of GDP, but Rome promised it would reach two percent in 2025. The new document announces that on top of the regular defense budget, a host of outlays that have been recategorized as defense spending have been added into the ledger, including pension payments and parts of the paramili

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