The Defence Affairs and Services allocation — Pakistan's military spending as published in the federal Budget in Brief.
Source: Budget in Brief — Ministry of Finance, Government of Pakistan.
Pakistan's defence budget is the money the federal government sets aside each year for the armed forces — salaries, equipment, training, and operations. For most of Pakistan's history, this was the largest single item in the federal budget.
That has changed in recent years: debt servicing — interest paid on government borrowing — has grown faster and is now the bigger of the two. Still, defence remains one of the largest and most closely watched parts of government spending, given Pakistan's security situation and its long-running tensions with neighbouring countries.
The figure shown here is the headline number published in the government's official Budget in Brief — it does not break down spending by branch of the military or by specific equipment, since that level of detail isn't published publicly. Comparing this number against PSDP or education spending is a common way analysts judge how Pakistan balances security needs against long-term development.
Defence has historically been one of Pakistan's largest current expenditure items, though debt servicing has now overtaken it in absolute terms — a structural shift worth tracking over time.
Does this include all military-related spending?
This is the Defence Affairs and Services allocation from Budget in Brief's Table 1 — the headline figure typically cited as "the defence budget." It does not separately break out classified or off-budget items, which Budget in Brief does not itemize publicly.
Has Pakistan's defence budget ever been cut?
In nominal Rupee terms, defence spending has grown almost every year in this dataset. Cuts, when they happen, are usually relative — defence growing slower than the rest of the budget, or shrinking as a share of GDP, rather than an actual Rupee reduction.
How does Pakistan's defence spending compare to its neighbours?
Pakistan's defence budget is smaller in absolute dollar terms than India's, but defence spending as a share of GDP has historically been higher in Pakistan, reflecting its smaller economy and ongoing security concerns.
Is defence spending the same as total military cost?
Not necessarily — this figure is the Defence Affairs and Services allocation published in Budget in Brief. Some military-related costs, like pensions for retired personnel, may be classified elsewhere in the budget.
Why isn't defence spending broken down by equipment or operation?
Detailed breakdowns are not published for national security reasons, which is standard practice in most countries. Only the aggregate allocation is made public.
Does PSDP include any defence-related infrastructure?
PSDP covers general federal development projects. Defence-specific infrastructure and procurement are funded through the defence budget itself, not PSDP.
How much of the budget does defence take up?
This varies by year — check the KPI card on the Budget Workshop and the allocation chart for the current fiscal year's exact share.
Is Pakistan's defence spending growing faster than the economy?
Use the % of GDP toggle in the Historical Budget Explorer to see this directly — defence spending as a share of GDP has generally trended down even as the Rupee amount has grown, because the overall budget has grown faster.
Every figure on this page is the Budget Estimate (BE) for that fiscal year, transcribed from that year’s own official Budget in Brief (Finance Division, Government of Pakistan). Most recent year:
Budget in Brief, FY2026-27 (Table 1: Budget at a Glance, Table 2/3: Fiscal Deficit & Financing / BE & RE Comparison, Table 11: Function-Wise Expenditure)Related Budget Categories