TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan's Cabinet on Thursday (Aug. 25) morning approved a nearly 14% increase to the national defense budget for 2023, accounting for 2.4% of GDP.

The Cabinet gave the green light for the central government's 2023 general budget, which comes to a total of NT$2.719 trillion (US$89.9 billion), an increase of NT$468 billion or 20.8% more than 2022. The overall defense budget has been raised to NT$586.3 billion, NT$71.6 billion more than the previous year, representing an increase of 13.9%.

Most of the defense funding goes to the Ministry of National Defense, which will receive a budget of NT$415.1 billion, NT$47.5 billion more than 2022, signifying a 12.9% hike. The total 2023 defense budget will account for 2.4% of GDP, an uptick from the 2.2% of GDP spent in 2022.

The government's estimated annual revenue for 2023 is NT$2.556 trillion, an increase of NT$289.5 billion over 2022, which is a rise of 12.8%.