Overview

• A Brussels report estimates that all assessed members except Iceland will reach at least 2% of GDP on defense this year, marking near-universal compliance with the Wales benchmark.
• Combined allied outlays are about $1.6 trillion, with European members and Canada up an estimated 15.9% to $559 billion in 2025 after faster growth last year.
• U.S. defense spending remains dominant at roughly $845 billion, leaving the American share disproportionately large in NATO totals.
• Germany’s final 2025 figure is not yet published by NATO as the federal budget awaits Bundestag approval, and current alliance tables provisionally assume 2% while Berlin signals higher spending.
• Leaders are steering toward politically binding goals of 3.5% of GDP for defense plus 1.5% for defense-related infrastructure by 2032, and only a few members are on track to meet the 3.5% level this year, with Poland (4.48%), Lithuania (4.00%), Estonia (3.38%) and the U.S. (3.22%) among the highest shares.