Spending on defence dropped by €5.6 million in 2017 compared to 2016, the second consecutive annual decrease.

The government spent €55.2 million on military defence that year, even less than the €62.9 million spent in 2014.

The National Statistics Office reported on Wednesday that government spending had increased across all sectors except defence and housing, the former dropping by 9.2 per cent and the latter by 1.8 per cent.

Government expenditure on defence had peaked at €77.9 million in 2015 – although the figures do not distinguish between recurrent and capital amount.

The amount spent by Malta – 0.6 per cent of GDP in 2016 – was already below the EU average of 1.3 per cent, putting the country in 25th place.