NATO has increased its defense spending by 20% in 2025 in Europe and Canada

NATO European allies and Canada recorded a 20% increase in defense spending in 2025 compared to the previous year, in real terms, according to the annual report of NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.

He emphasized the importance of maintaining this pace and urged allies to demonstrate clear progress at the next NATO summit in Ankara, aiming to achieve the 5% of GDP defense target.

Rutte mentioned that all allies reported spending that reached or exceeded the 2% target set in 2014.

At last year's summit, NATO leaders agreed to allocate 5% of GDP for defense and related investments by 2035.

Poland recorded the highest spending as a percentage of GDP within the alliance, at 4.3%, while Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Denmark have already exceeded the 3.5% target, while other countries, such as Spain and Canada, stood at 2%.

In total, the alliance spent 2.77% of GDP on defense in 2025, with the United States accounting for approximately 60% of total spending.