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The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) released its annual defense spending earlier this year 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., the U.K. 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.
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NATO released its annual report detailing member countries’ defense spending levels relative to the 2% of GDP commitment. (Oleg Nikishin/Getty Images)
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:Spending 2% since at least 2023U.S. over 3% since at least 2014U.K. over 2% since at least 2014Greece over 2% since at least 2014Estonia over 2% since 2015Latvia over 2% since 2018Lithuania over 2% since 2019Poland over 2% since 2020Finland over 2% since 2023 (ratified as a NATO member in 2023)Denmark over 2% since 2023Hungary over 2% since 2023
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An Army Bradley infantry fighting vehicle rides M3 amphibious rigs of the German/British Amphibious Engineer Battalion 130 while crossing the Vistula River during the NATO Dragon 24 military exercise near Gniew, Poland, on March 4. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images) Surpassed 2% in 2024AlbaniaBulgariaCzech RepublicFranceGermanyMontenegroNetherlandsNorth MacedoniaNorwayRomaniaSlovak RepublicSweden (ratified as a NATO member in 2024)Turkey
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Swedish CB90-class fast assault craft are shown during NATO’s Nordic Response 24 military exercise near Sorstraumen, above the Arctic Circle, in Norway on March 10. (Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP via Getty Images) Spending less than 2%BelgiumCanadaCroatiaItalyLuxembourgSloveniaSpain
A U.S. Air Force B-52 leads a formation of, from left, two Turkish Air Force F-16s, two Spanish Air Force F-18s, two Spanish Air Force AV-8Bs, two U.S. Marine AV-8Bs and two Swedish Air Force JAS-39s during a NATO-led flyover event as part of Baltic (U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Elton Taylor/24th MEU/DVIDS / Fox News)
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