NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced, on Monday 17 June, that “23 Allies (out of 31 – Iceland was not included due to missing figures) will spend 2% or more of their GDP on defence this year”.
“That’s more than twice as many as four years ago, and it shows that more and more Allies are now stepping up their efforts and investing more in our security”, he explained at a meeting with US President Joe Biden in Washington.
Together, the Allies will have increased their defence spending by 18% in 2024. “This is the biggest increase in decades”, stressed the NATO Secretary General.
Poland leads the way, with defence spending representing 4.12% of its GDP, ahead of Estonia (3.43%) and the United States (3.38%). Slovenia (1.29%), Luxembourg (1.29%) and Spain (1.28%) bring up the rear. The eight countries below the 2% threshold are Slovenia, Luxembourg, Spain, Belgium, Canada, Italy, Portugal and Croatia.
The commitment to spend 2% of GDP on defence was made in 2014, with 2024 as the target date. At the Washington summit in July, the Allies are expected to commit to spending at least 2% of their GDP.
All the Allies, with the exception of Belgium (15.2%) and Canada (18.6%), are above the 20% NATO guideline for defence spending on equipment.
In 2024, the Allies are expected to spend $1,185 billion, including $755 billion from the United States alone.
To see the defence expenditures: https://aeur.eu/f/cpk (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)