NATO Members to Meet 2% GDP Target for Military Spending This Year

The 32 member countries of NATO will allocate at least 2% of their GDP to defense this year, the Atlantic Alliance confirms. However, it emphasizes that significant fiscal effort will be needed over the next ten years.

According to the latest figures, all member countries, including Belgium, Canada, Spain, and Italy, will have achieved this target by the end of 2025. For these three countries, it took over ten years to reach the goal set in 2014.

Under pressure from President Donald Trump and due to the perceived threat from Russia, NATO members pledged in late June to nearly double military spending by 2035, increasing the percentage of their GDP allocated to strictly military expenditures to 3.5%.

Furthermore, they committed to allocating 1.5% of their GDP to security-related expenditures. Overall, these commitments will constitute 5% of the gross national product of each of the 32 member countries.

In 2025 alone, NATO expects military spending to exceed $1.5 trillion (€1.29 trillion). According to NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, Russia could launch a 'victorious' attack on Europe in the next three to five years if these decisions were not taken.

Spain believes that the 5% target does not concern them. Poland will remain the country allocating the highest percentage of its GDP to defense (4.48%) in 2025.

Source: ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ