All NATO member states are set to meet the alliance’s long-standing defense spending target of 2% of GDP this year, according to a new NATO report — but only three are currently meeting the new goal of 3.5%.
According to the report published in Brussels on Thursday, previously lagging NATO countries such as Spain, Italy and Belgium have now increased their defense spending to the level agreed at the NATO summit in Wales in 2014.
Estimates from the alliance showed that, as recently as last year, more than 10 of the alliance’s 32 members fell short of the 2% goal.
But many member states have substantially increased military spending since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and following demands by US President Donald Trump for European allies to invest more in their own defense.
Which NATO countries are hitting the new 3.5% target?
However, only three NATO members are currently hitting the new target of 3.5% of GDP agreed in The Hague in June: Poland (4.48%), Lithuania (4%) and Latvia (3.73%).
While contributing the lion’s share in absolute terms, the United States itself is only set to spend 3.22% of GDP on defense this year.
No specific figures are available for Germany, but the government has indicated that Berlin will hit the target once the lawmakers pass the budget.
Speaking at the opening of a new Rheinmetall ammunition factory in Germany on Wednesday, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte welcomed the increased defense spending by alliance members but called for that extra money to be converted into genuine military capability.
“Cash alone doesn’t provide security,” he said at the facility in the town of Unterlüss, near Hannover. “Deterrence doesn’t come from 5%; deterrence comes from the capability to … fight potential enemies.”
Edited by Sean Sinico
