NATO members are expected to spend at least 2 percent of their GDP on defense, and at least 20 percent of their defense spending is supposed to go to equipment. Currently, 00 member nations meet both criteria, though most have only reached them recent years. Many prominent figures have called for defense spending to go well beyond the 2 percent minimum.
NATO Average
Current NATO member
Non-NATO member in
Notes: This page was first published March 28, 2025. Figures for 2025-2026 are estimates. NATO averages exclude Iceland because it has no military. Equipment expenditures include major equipment expenditures and R&D devoted to major equipment. Countries that have joined NATO within the past 10 years include Montenegro (2017), North Macedonia (2020), Finland (2023), and Sweden (2024)..
Source: North Atlantic Treaty Organization, “Defence Investment of NATO Countries (2014-2026)”.
Design and Development: Data visualization by John W. Fleming and Jay Simon.