Brussels – Not only did all NATO allies last year meet the target set in 2014 to invest at least 2 per cent of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in defence, but European countries and Canada have increased their defence spending by 20 per cent in 2025 compared to 2024. This picture was painted by the Secretary General’s Annual Report 2025, Mark Rutte. As for the estimates for Italy, last year the country spent over 45 billion euros (45.325), equivalent to 2.01 per cent of its GDP, recording a 32.97 per cent increase compared to 1.52 per cent of GDP in 2024 (33.420 billion) and a 98 per cent increase compared to 2014, when it spent 18.427 billion on defence (equivalent to 1.13 per cent of its GDP).
“We have made significant progress in defence spending, and NATO is now stronger than ever,” Rutte said at a press conference. “In 2025, for the first time, all Allies have met the target agreed in 2014: to spend at least 2 per cent of their GDP on defence. And many have gone well beyond that. In fact, we have seen a 20 per cent increase in defence spending across Europe and Canada in 2025 compared to 2024. Continuing this crucial trend will be a priority in the years to come,” he urged.
The report highlights that defence spending has reached 2.77 per cent of the Atlantic Alliance’s total GDP (compared to 2.65 per cent in 2024). And if the US contribution is excluded from this figure, the combined share of Europe and Canada stands at 2.33 per cent. The US spent 3.19 per cent of its GDP on defence. However, the two parts of the Alliance show opposite growth trends: whilst defence spending by Europe and Canada rose by 19.6 per cent compared to 19.36 per cent in 2024, that of the US fell by 1.38 per cent. Overall, however, the Atlantic Alliance spent 6.19 per cent more of its GDP in 2025 than in 2014 (in 2014 it had spent 4.38 per cent less, as had the US, which spent 5.6 per cent less, and Europe and Canada, which spent almost 1 per cent less).
The former Dutch prime minister pointed out that investment “is essential” to “be able to address threats,” among which “Russia remains the most significant and direct threat to security in the Euro-Atlantic area.” In this context, “all 32 allies agree that Russia represents our most significant threat” and that “all allies are fully committed to ensuring that we have the necessary collective defence, and that we take the measures required to ensure deterrence,” he said, playing down a question regarding any concerns over the disclosure of confidential information by Budapest to the Kremlin.
For Rutte, therefore, “a strong transatlantic bond remains essential in an era of global uncertainty” and “North America and Europe have always been stronger together within NATO.” “This is how we will continue to stay safe in a more dangerous world,” he added. “Last year, NATO began a new chapter in our common defence,” Rutte recalled, highlighting the “historic” decision, taken at the Hague Summit, to increase defence spending to 5 per cent of GDP. “Whilst the Allies are now allocating greater resources to crucial capabilities, we must ensure that supply meets our demand”, and in this context, it is necessary “to increase production and innovation in the defence sector, to ensure that our industries can provide what our armed forces need,” he explained.
He is a Secretary General who cannot help but be satisfied. “It is estimated that total spending by NATO Allies on core defence requirements will exceed $1.4 trillion (at constant 2021 prices) in 2025. European Allies and Canada are doing more and investing more,
with their increased commitment marked by huge leaps
in defence spending,” he wrote in his report. “Between 2014 and 2025, NATO
Europe and Canada have more than doubled their annual
defence expenditure, with a real-term increase of 106%. In 2025 alone, NATO Allies in Europe and Canada invested a total of $574 billion in defence, a 20 per cent increase in real terms compared to 2024.
In
2025 alone, NATO Allies in Europe and Canada invested
a total of USD 574 billion in defence, a 20% increase in
real terms compared to 2024. All Allies reported defence
expenditure figures that met or went beyond the 2% target
first set in 2014, with many making steep increases in
spending, and three Allies already meeting the new 3.5%
objective in 2025,” he explained. The three countries are Poland (4.30 per cent), Lithuania (4 per cent) and Latvia (3.74 per cent). “This shows that NATO Allies recognise
our changed security environment, and the need to meet our collective obligations”, and “this makes us all safer and more secure, but we must maintain the momentum.” The Secretary General is not content and calls for consistency in this endeavour: “I expect the Allies at the next NATO summit in Ankara,” on 7 and 8 July, “to demonstrate that they are on a clear and credible path towards the 5 per cent of GDP target” for defence spending.
