Brazilian Defense Ministry spends 83.5% of its budget on personnel

In 2020, the agency that covers the entire military, spent R$ 110.8 billion. R$ 92.4 billion from this amount went to the salary fund, accounting for 83.5% of the total. Reported by Metrópoles. 

The allocation of most of the resources to salaries and pensions shows that the Brazilian military is paying more attention to personnel than to technology and structure. In addition, only R$ 38.2 billion of R$ 92.4 billion personnel budget are spent on active personnel, both military and civilian. This is 41.3% of the total. Thus, most of the army, navy and air force personnel expenses (58.7%) fall on retirees and pensioners.

“Brazil is a peaceful country, remote from conflict zones and major world powers, traditionally pacifist in international relations. The federal budget isn't big. Therefore, I don't think that the existence of a very large armed forces is justified. And ours are 15th largest in the world”, said Juliano da Silva Cortinhas, professor of international relations at the University of Brasilia (UnB).

The authorities that usually have the highest percentage of personnel costs are the judiciary and legislature ones, as their activities are mainly related to people, not investments. If we consider only the executive authorities, the Ministry of Defence is in third place. The Federal portfolio is second only to the Controller General of the Union (CGU) and the Attorney General of the Union (AGU).

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