EXPLAINER
The 32 members of the world’s strongest army alliance will spend $1.47 trillion this yr.
NATO is holding the ultimate day of its three-day summit in Washington, DC, to mark its seventy fifth anniversary.
On Wednesday, the world’s strongest army alliance formally declared Ukraine was on an “irreversible” path to NATO membership and pledged to offer Kyiv with no less than $43bn in army support.
In 2006, the alliance’s defence ministers agreed to commit a minimal of two p.c of their gross home merchandise (GDP) to defence spending to make sure the army readiness of the alliance.
At present, two-thirds of its members (23 of 32) have fulfilled this dedication, and can collectively spend $1.47 trillion on defence this yr. That is up from simply 10 nations assembly the two p.c guideline in 2023 and three nations assembly the dedication in 2014.
Who’re the 32 NATO members?
NATO was based in 1949 by 12 member states – Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the UK and the US.
Its intention was to curb Soviet enlargement and encourage political integration in Europe.
Over the previous 75 years, its membership has grown to 32 members with Finland and Sweden turning into the newest nations to affix in 2023 and 2024, respectively.
How a lot does every NATO member spend?
In February, NATO Secretary-Basic Jens Stoltenberg stated: “In 2024, NATO allies in Europe will make investments a mixed complete of $380bn in defence. For the primary time, this quantities to 2 p.c of their mixed GDP.”
The USA stays the world’s largest army spender by far. In greenback phrases, the US represents about two-thirds of NATO nations’ annual defence spending, budgeting an estimated $967bn.
This represents about 3.4 p.c of the $28.7 trillion US economic system.
The subsequent 4 prime spenders in greenback phrases are Germany ($97.7bn), the UK ($82.1bn), France ($64.3bn) and Poland ($34.9bn).
The infographic beneath exhibits the ratio of NATO’s army spending by the US in contrast with different NATO members represented in fixed 2015 US greenback costs.
In 2014, NATO allies in Europe and Canada invested $250bn, or about 1.43 p.c of their collective GDP, to defence. That determine has risen steadily over the previous decade and is anticipated to succeed in $430bn, or 2.02 p.c, this yr.
As a portion of GDP, Poland (4.1 p.c), Estonia (3.4 p.c), the US (3.4 p.c), Latvia (3.2 p.c) and Greece (3.1 p.c) spend essentially the most whereas Spain (1.3 p.c), Slovenia (1.3 p.c), Luxembourg (1.3 p.c), Belgium (1.3 p.c) and Canada (1.4 p.c) spend the least.
In contrast with 2014, Latvia, Lithuania and Hungary have had the most important share will increase in defence spending with Latvia and Lithuania elevating their spending by greater than 300 p.c and Hungary growing defence spending by 225 p.c.
