All Nato members hit old spending target, only 3 meet new goal

BRUSSELS — All North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) members will hit a longstanding target of spending two per cent of GDP on defence this year but only three currently reach a new, higher goal set by alliance leaders in June, Nato data released on Thursday (Aug 28) showed.

Many Nato countries have substantially increased military spending in recent years, following Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine and demands by US President Donald Trump for European allies to invest more in their own defence.

Estimates from the alliance on Thursday showed that as recently as last year, more than 10 of Nato's 32 members fell short of the two per cent goal, which was agreed in 2014.

Figures for 2025 showed all allies meeting that target, with seven at the minimum of 2.0 per cent and several others only marginally higher.

Poland is the Nato member spending the most on defence as a share of its economy, at 4.48 per cent, followed by Lithuania at 4 per cent and Latvia with 3.73 per cent, according to the data.

Those were the only alliance members who currently exceed the new defence spending target of 3.5 per cent of GDP agreed by Nato leaders at a summit in The Hague in June.

The leaders agreed to hit that target by 2035 as part of a broader goal of spending 5 per cent of GDP on defence and security-related investments, to include items such as cybersecurity and upgrading roads and ports to handle heavy military equipment.

Speaking at the opening of an ammunition factory in Germany on Wednesday, Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte praised higher defence spending by alliance members but said it was important to turn the extra money into military capabilities.

"Cash alone doesn't provide security," he said at the factory in the town of Unterluess owned by German arms firm Rheinmetall. "Deterrence doesn't come from five per cent. Deterrence comes from the capability to ... fight potential enemies."