NATO countries spent $1.3 trillion on defense last year. This exceeds forecasts - Alliance report
In 2024, 32 NATO member states together spent $1.303 trillion on defense. This figure exceeded forecasts.
This is reported by Euractiv with reference to the report of the North Atlantic Alliance, Censor.NET informs.
It is noted that 468 billion US dollars were spent on defense in Europe and Canada. At the same time, the United States spent $818 billion.
According to the document, in the previous year, 2023, NATO members spent $200 billion less on defense.
Thus, last year, NATO countries spent 19% more on defense compared to the previous year.
In addition, 22 out of 32 Allies have reached the 2% of GDP defense spending target.
According to the initial estimates published at the beginning of the year, 23 countries were expected to reach this mark, but Montenegro has not yet reached it.
At the same time, Washington is already pushing for an increase in defense spending from 2 to 5% of GDP.
Discussions are ongoing, and NATO diplomats suggest that a compromise could be reached around 3% or 3.5%.
The final decision will be made at the NATO leaders' summit in The Hague in late June.
Earlier, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said that Europe and Canada should make a "quantum leap" in defense spending.
