EU defence research spending hits new record high

R&D spending rose by almost 20 per cent to €9 billion in 2021, agency says

EU countries spent €9 billion on defence R&D in 2021, according to the bloc’s defence agency, which said the figure represented an almost 20 per cent increase on the previous year.

Of this sum, spending on defence research and technology increased by 41 per cent to reach a record high of €3.6bn, the European Defence Agency announced on 8 December.