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For the first time since February 24, 2022, the Kremlin has allocated nearly half of every tax ruble collected for its federal budget to military funding and weapons procurement.
Key Points:
- The financial burden of the war continues escalating, becoming increasingly unsustainable for the state budget.
- From January to June, Russia’s Finance Ministry gathered 17.584 trillion rubles in revenue but spent 21.278 trillion.
Russia Spends Half Its Tax Revenue on War for the First Time
This conclusion was reached by Janis Kluge, a researcher at Germany’s Institute for International Security Affairs.
He conducted fresh analysis using data from the “Electronic Budget” system.
The expert highlights that war-related expenditures consumed 50.1% of state income in Q1 2023, declining slightly to 48.2% by the end of Q2.
According to him, the conflict’s financial strain on Russia’s budget grows more severe each year:
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In 2022, military operations absorbed 24.4% of tax revenue;
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By 2023, this share rose to 32.05%,
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Reaching 39.05% in 2024.
Notably, the prior record of 45.4% from Q1 2023 has now been surpassed.
During the first half of the year, Russia’s federal budget recorded revenues of 17.584 trillion rubles against expenditures of 21.278 trillion, with 39.9% of spending directed toward the war in this period (41.2% in Q1).
These figures mark the worst financial performance in the aggressor nation’s recent history.
