NATO allies agree to 5% defense spending target — but which countries spend the most on their military already?
Leaders of 32 major European and North American countries met at the NATO summit in the Netherlands on Wednesday and agreed to commit to spending 5% of gross domestic product on defense by 2035, an enormous rise from the previous target of 2%.
Ahead of the meeting, the alliance endorsed Article 5 of its founding treaty in light of rising international tensions.
Now, after making a joint declaration of “ironclad commitment,” the move will help to keep the Western bloc “united in the face of profound security threats and challenges,” with President Trump telling reporters at the summit, “We’re with them all the way.”
Still, the 5% rule might be a bigger change for some allied members than others. NATO recently estimated that Poland, which shares a western border with Ukraine, saw the largest share of its GDP spent on defense last year at 4.12% — up from 1.88% just a decade prior.
In second place was Russian neighbor Estonia (3.43%), while the US, long renowned for its defense budget, clocked in at 3.38% — making it the only NATO member country to actually decrease the share of GDP spent on military operations in the last 10 years, down from 3.71%.
Of course, given the size of the American economy, the US still accounted for ~66% of all NATO defense expenditure in 2024.
Now, after making a joint declaration of “ironclad commitment,” the move will help to keep the Western bloc “united in the face of profound security threats and challenges,” with President Trump telling reporters at the summit, “We’re with them all the way.”
Still, the 5% rule might be a bigger change for some allied members than others. NATO recently estimated that Poland, which shares a western border with Ukraine, saw the largest share of its GDP spent on defense last year at 4.12% — up from 1.88% just a decade prior.
In second place was Russian neighbor Estonia (3.43%), while the US, long renowned for its defense budget, clocked in at 3.38% — making it the only NATO member country to actually decrease the share of GDP spent on military operations in the last 10 years, down from 3.71%.
Of course, given the size of the American economy, the US still accounted for ~66% of all NATO defense expenditure in 2024.
