The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) released its annual defense spending report this week that details how many countries that are members of the alliance are spending on their defense.
In 2014, the heads of state and government for all NATO members committed to spending at least 2% of their gross domestic product (GDP) on defense to help ensure the military readiness of alliance members after Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea from Ukraine as well as instability in the Middle East. The 2% guideline built on a prior 2006 commitment made by NATO defense ministers.
At the time of the 2014 commitment, just three alliance members – the U.S., United Kingdom and Greece – were spending at least 2% of their economic output on defense. By 2020, nine NATO member states had met the commitment, though that fell to six the following year before rebounding to seven in 2022 after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and it rose further to 10 last year based on estimated figures.
The 2024 data showed that 23 of the 32 member countries, including the two newest members, Finland and Sweden, met the 2% defense spending commitment. That's the largest number of NATO members meeting or exceeding that threshold since its inception in 2014.
NATO CHIEF CREDITS TRUMP FOR RECORD NUMBER OF MEMBERS MEETING SPENDING TARGETS
Here's a breakdown of which countries are meeting the 2% defense spending threshold for the first time and those that have done so in prior years:
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