The countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) continued to increase their defense spending in 2025, with a total figure exceeding $1.4 trillion, the organization’s annual report revealed on Thursday.
BRUSSELS, March 26 (Xinhua) — The countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) continued to increase their defense spending in 2025, with a total figure exceeding $1.4 trillion, the organization’s annual report revealed on Thursday.
According to the report, NATO’s European members and Canada significantly increased their military spending, with their combined spending reaching $574 billion in 2025, representing a 20% real increase compared to the previous year.
Additionally, the report indicated that all NATO members achieved or exceeded the alliance’s longstanding goal of dedicating 2% of their gross domestic product (GDP) to defense in 2025, with Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia even meeting NATO’s new goal of allocating 3.5% of their GDP to basic defense spending.
At the June 2025 Hague Summit, NATO leaders agreed to increase annual defense-related spending to 5% of their GDP by 2035. As part of this plan, 3.5% should be allocated to core defense needs, while the remaining 1.5% should be for broader security areas, such as protecting critical infrastructure and enhancing cybersecurity.
