In a speech commemorating the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Alliance’s 75th anniversary, President Joe Biden stated that NATO partners had raised defense budgets. “In the year 2020 the year I was elected president, only nine NATO allies were spending 2% of their defense GDP on defense,” Biden stated. “23 plans to spend at least 2% of this year. And some people will go above that amount.”
NATO allies boost defense spending
The most current statistics from NATO was offered by a White House spokeswoman in support of Biden’s assertion. According to June 2024 NATO estimates, 23 of 32 NATO countries will increase their defense spending by at least 2% of their yearly gross domestic product in 2024. According to the same research, nine allies spent the target amount on defense in 2020. A White House spokesman provided the most recent NATO figures to bolster Biden’s claim. 23 of the 32 NATO nations are expected to raise their defense budgets by at least 2% of their GDP annually in 2024, according to June 2024 forecasts from the alliance. Nine allies spent the goal amount on defense in 2020, according to the same analysis. The statistics from the previous and current year are estimates, according to Julie Garey, an associate teaching professor of political science at Northeastern University. Generally, NATO data that is older than two years is final. These numbers are based on the data those nations supply; analysts noted that not all NATO members have the same fiscal year and have carried out their planned expenditure.
“2% target met by most NATO members
Every year, NATO requests data from its members about defense spending, and updates its database appropriately. However, Garey noted that “not everything a state counts as ‘defense expenditures’ is included in NATO’s measure of spending.” In 2014, NATO leaders decided to allocate 2% of their GDP for defense expenditure in reaction to the unrest in the Middle East and Russia’s illegitimate annexation of Crimea. The nations of NATO intended to accomplish that nonbinding aim “within a decade.” According to Garey, the concept is that by allocating at least 2% of a nation’s GDP to the military, the allies will be able to satisfy their own defense requirements and participate in joint NATO operations. However, there are no clear penalties for a nation that doesn’t spend the 2% of GDP required by NATO on its military. “I can never emphasize enough that this is money being spent on each state’s defense; it’s not going directly to the alliance,” she stated. “This is money that countries are spending on their own soldiers, equipment, and so forth, that they own and control and can use as they deem appropriate.”
Defense spending sees significant increase
She stated that while allies may put pressure on nations that haven’t reached the objective to increase their efforts, the 2% goal isn’t intended to be a system of rewards or penalties. According to experts, it is impossible to pinpoint a single reason for the growing number of nations that are hitting the 2% criterion. The movement among NATO members to boost defense budgets precedes both Biden and the former president Donald Trump. In 2023 and 2024, NATO countries will be spending more on defense because of “a European sense of insecurity after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” according to Alexandra Chinchilla, an assistant professor of international politics at Texas A&M University’s Bush School of Government & Public Service.
| metric | 2020 | 2024 |
| Allies of NATO Allocating 2% of GDP to Defense | 9 | 23 |
| Total Defense Spending by NATO as a Share of GDP | 1.75% | 2.71% |
| Total amount spent on defense by NATO (in billions) | $380 | $380 |
| Top Spenders as a percentage of GDP | Poland (4.12%), the US (3.5%) | Poland (4.12%), the US (3.5%) |
| nations hitting the 2% target | Finland, the US, the UK, Greece, Poland, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia | US, UK, Greece, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Iceland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey; Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Bulgaria; |
NATO’s defense goal achieved by majority
According to Anessa Kimball, a political science professor at Laval University and co-director of the Canadian Defence and Security Network, other nations, like Latvia, have legal requirements requiring 2% of their GDP to be spent on the military. According to Kimball, other nations have been “more creative in ‘what counts’ as defense spending.” Belgium, for instance, considers railroads to be a component of national defense. Greece tracks its expenditure on pensions for veterans.
