GRAPHICS STORY: How much do NATO allies really spend on defense?

With a war raging in Europe, military spending by the United States compared with other NATO member states is a hot topic at the military alliance's summit in Washington this week.

NATO countries agreed in 2014 to spend 2% of their GDP on defense, with the goal of all members meeting that target within a decade. At the time of the pledge, only three had reached that goal: the U.S., Greece, and the UK. Defense spending by NATO nations has increased ever since under three U.S. presidents. The push began after Russia's annexation of Crimea and accelerated in 2022 after Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

At a summit last year, amid a stalled Ukrainian counteroffensive, allies agreed to spend a minimum of 2% of GDP on defense to "remedy existing shortfalls" and respond to new security challenges. Now, the alliance says, 23 countries are on track to make the target in 2024. That includes Finland and Sweden, both of which joined after the Russian invasion.

"There is still work to be done," Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Douglas Jones said in an interview. ''There are still allies that are not there, and those that are not there need to have a plan to get there soon as possible."

At the same time, he said, the increase "demonstrates that European allies are stepping up to more equitably share the burden."

"This has been a longtime focus of the United States across administrations to get to this point," Jones, a former Chargé d’Affaires at the U.S. Mission to NATO, said. "We're glad of the progress we've seen, but we'll keep pushing for more until all allies are across that line."

Most NATO members are meeting their expenditure guidelines

Since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine, European allies have increased defense spending by 11%.

Although the U.S. spends the most of any NATO nation, Poland and Estonia put a greater share of their GDPs towards defense.

Ukraine is not a NATO member nation, although it works closely with the alliance. It is a significant beneficiary of support from the alliance: allies are aiming to spend a collective $43 billion or more in the next year on equipment for Kyiv's hard-pressed military.

NATO members said at a 2023 Summit in Vilnius that they would "be in a position to extend an invitation to Ukraine to join the Alliance when Allies agree and conditions are met." One of those conditions is that the war ends. For now, the alliance stands at 32 members.

U.S. contributes 16% of the NATO budget, but is still the country with the largest defense spending of the alliance

In addition to their own defense spending, each NATO member directly contributes to a shared budget for civil, military, and security programs. The criteria for these contributions are determined through a cost-sharing formula that is regularly reviewed. In 2024, the United States provided the largest share of this common funding, at 15.9%, approximately $567 million. This is one of the largest shares, alongside Germany and the UK.

One in three active military personnel in NATO is an American

The United States is the largest contributor of military personnel to the alliance, with almost 1.33 million troops in 2024. Turkey, Poland, and France maintain the next largest armies, each with more than 200,000 troops. In total, NATO has more than 3 million active troops.

NATO members contribute troops, equipment, and funds voluntarily, covering expenses such as military personnel, equipment, and administrative costs of deploying the troops. The distribution of expenses varies from country to country. For instance, some countries such as Italy, Portugal, and Croatia contribute more troops and personnel, while countries with smaller armies focus on providing equipment, research, and other related expenses.

Allies are taking defense spending "very seriously now" and delivering on their pledge to invest more, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said at a media roundtable in June when the latest numbers were announced.

"Europeans are investing more. This is good in itself. But it only helps to improve the burden sharing," he said.