Türkiye’s Arms Budget Jumps 229% in 2027 Proposal

Türkiye plans to increase its 2027 allocation for weapons, ammunition, weapons systems and other defence equipment by 229%, Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz said Wednesday while presenting the government’s budget proposal to Parliament’s Planning and Budget Commission. The proposal sets total defence and security allocations at TL 3.45 trillion ($69.64 billion), including resources for the Defense Industry Support Fund. That equals 12.7% of the central government budget.

The figures put planned state spending on military and security equipment alongside promises of price stability, jobs and prosperity. The government has presented a proposal, not a final budget. Its stated priorities include a sharp rise in arms procurement and economic targets extending to 2029.

A larger procurement apparatus

The 229% increase covers weapons, ammunition, weapons systems and other defence equipment. The proposal gives no starting figure for that allocation and no itemized account of how the planned money would be split among those categories. The wider defence and security total includes resources for the Defense Industry Support Fund.

Yılmaz called the proposal a “budget of resilience, prosperity and transformation,” and said it would strengthen the economy against external shocks. The same plan sets defence and security spending at TL 3.45 trillion, while projected government spending overall reaches TL 27.2 trillion. These figures put the government’s stated security priorities in the budget, even as officials frame the plan in terms of economic resilience.

The government projects revenue of about TL 23.4 trillion, up 37.5% from the previous year. It forecasts tax revenue rising 36.5% to TL 19.9 trillion. The base figures don’t say how revenue would be divided between defence and other spending; they do state that defence and security would make up 12.7% of the central government budget.

Prosperity, on the government’s terms

Yılmaz said price stability and stronger, sustainable macroeconomic balances were conditions for lasting prosperity. He described support for disinflation as one of the budget’s main pillars. The government aims to lower consumer price inflation to 21% in 2027; annual inflation fell below 30% in September, and officials forecast it will end 2026 at 28.4%.

The government says the economy has grown for 24 consecutive quarters. Yılmaz said Türkiye’s growth of 5.2% was above the world average. Officials aim to lift potential growth by 0.5 percentage points through productivity-focused policies. Their projections put growth at 4.2% in 2027 and 4.6% in 2028, before it reaches 5% by the end of the Medium-Term Program period.

The employment pledge is an average of 711,000 additional jobs each year through 2029, with unemployment brought into single digits. The government forecasts an 8% unemployment rate in 2027, against a projected 8.1% in 2026. It also targets $292 billion in goods exports in 2027 and expects the current account deficit to equal 1.9% of national income, below its historical average.

Yılmaz said global trade-volume growth was forecast to slow in 2028-2029. The government also plans to increase housing supply through social-housing and rental social-housing projects. These goals accompany the procurement surge. The proposal offers no further detail on how those housing projects or other targets relate to the defence allocation.

The gap in the budget’s promises

National income is expected to exceed $1.8 trillion in 2026, with income per person above $20,000. The government aims to pass $2 trillion during the Medium-Term Program period. Those projections sit alongside the planned expansion of arms and security spending, not in its place. The proposal records both priorities but leaves their trade-offs unspecified.

The budget promises resilience and prosperity. Its figures show a government planning a 229% increase in procurement of weapons and related equipment, while forecasting lower inflation, job creation and economic growth. The state has set out the scale of its proposed security spending. The figures presented don’t specify how officials will divide the money within that allocation.