The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) recently released its annual defense spending report that details how much money members of the mutual security alliance are spending on their defense and which are meeting their commitments.
In 2014, the heads of state and government for all NATO member countries committed to spending at least 2% of their gross domestic product (GDP) on defense to boost the alliance’s military readiness amid Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea from Ukraine and instability in the Middle East. The 2% guideline built on a prior 2006 commitment made by NATO defense members.
At the time of the 2014 pledge, only three NATO members – the U.S., the U.K. and Greece – were at the 2% threshold. That figure rose to nine by 2020, fell to six in 2021 but rebounded to seven in 2022 after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It then ticked up to 10 in 2023, and 2024 saw 23 of the 32 member countries, including newly ratified members Finland and Sweden, meet the threshold.
NATO’s latest data shows that all 32 members of the alliance are expected to meet the 2% spending commitment in 2025, based on the estimated defense spending and economic growth figures used for the 2024 and 2025 figures. It marks the first time since the spending target was created that all members have been in compliance.
NATO COUNTRIES AGREE TO SPEND 5% OF GDP ON DEFENSE: WHICH COUNTRIES LED IN 2024?
Earlier this year, nearly all NATO members agreed to a new goal of spending 5% of GDP on defense by 2035 – a figure which sets a goal of spending 3.5% of GDP on core defense requirements to meet NATO capability goals, with the remainder potentially allocated to other defense and security-related spending. The lone country to opt out was Spain, which said it can meet its military requirements by spending just 2.1% of GDP.
Here’s a look at how much NATO says member countries are estimated to spend on defense this year, as well as when member countries met the original 2% threshold.
(Note: NATO’s latest data doesn’t include Germany’s defense spending levels, though the country reached the 2% threshold last year and plans to ramp up spending further in the years ahead. It also excludes Iceland, which doesn’t have a defense budget but contributes in other ways.)
NATO WARNS RUSSIA AFTER POLAND SHOOTS DOWN ‘HUGE NUMBER’ OF DRONES THAT VIOLATED ITS AIRSPACE
Spending 2% since 2023 or earlier
- U.S. – over 3% since at least 2014
- U.K. – over 2% since at least 2014
- Greece – over 2% since at least 2014
- Estonia – over 2% since 2015
- Latvia – over 2% since 2018
- Lithuania – over 2% since 2019
- Poland – over 2% since 2020
- Finland – over 2% since 2023 (ratified as a NATO member in 2023)
- Denmark – over 2% since 2023
- Hungary – over 2% since 2023
RUSSIAN CRUISE MISSILES HIT US COMPANY IN MASSIVE UKRAINE STRIKE AMID TRUMP’S PEACE PUSH
Surpassed 2% in 2024
- Albania
- Bulgaria
- Czech Republic
- France
- Germany
- Montenegro
- Netherlands
- North Macedonia
- Norway
- Romania
- Sweden (ratified as a NATO member in 2024)
- Turkey
Surpassed 2% in 2025
- Belgium
- Canada
- Croatia
- Italy
- Luxembourg
- Slovenia
- Spain
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