Overview
- Germany told NATO on Tuesday that it will spend €124.7 billion on defence this year, a nominal record that NATO calculates as about 2.69% of German GDP.
- NATO data published for the start of the Ankara summit project only five members—Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Poland and Greece—to meet the alliance’s 3.5% core spending ambition in 2026.
- The United States is projected to spend about 3.17% of GDP in 2026 while European members plus Canada average roughly 2.53% of GDP.
- Last year’s Den Haag commitment raised the core target from 2% to 3.5% of GDP by 2035 and added an extra 1.5% of GDP for defence‑adjacent areas such as cyber and logistics, creating new counting rules for allied investments.
- The new numbers give political leaders, including President Donald Trump, fresh leverage to press governments to speed budget increases and will shape summit discussions about timetables and spending priorities.