NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte presented his 2025 annual report at the alliance headquarters in Brussels, highlighting a near-20% real-terms rise in defense spending by NATO members in Europe and Canada.
Between 2014 and 2025, Rutte noted, Europe and Canada more than doubled their annual defense outlays, with a cumulative real-term increase of 106%. In 2025 alone, NATO Allies in Europe and Canada spent $574 billion (about €500 billion) on defense — a 20% real-terms increase compared with 2024. Rutte said all allies reported meeting the annual NATO target of spending 2% of GDP on defense, and three countries said they had already reached the new 3.5% objective set for 2035.
Rutte described the progress as evidence that allies recognize a changed security environment and the need to meet collective obligations. He pointed to increased demands from the prolonged war in Ukraine, which has strained consumable stocks such as artillery ammunition, and he highlighted recent industrial investments bolstering NATO supply chains.
Key figures from the report:
– US defense spending was $838 billion in 2025, a slight decline on the year.
– Despite the dip, the US still accounted for well over half of NATO spending; European members (including Turkey) and Canada together contributed $574 billion.
– The US share of total NATO defense expenditure fell from 64% in 2024 to 59% in 2025.
– Europe and Canada’s overall defense spending rose by more than 19% in absolute terms for the second consecutive year.
– Several members — Belgium, Canada, Albania, Spain, Portugal, Italy, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, France and Montenegro — reported figures just at or barely above the 2% GDP threshold (between 2.00% and 2.05%).
– Leading European spenders — Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Denmark and Norway — all dedicated a larger share of GDP to defense than the US rate of 3.19%.
– Germany reported defense spending of 2.39% of GDP, roughly double its 2014 level.
– Only Belgium, Albania and Estonia failed to meet the NATO guideline to spend at least 20% of defense budgets on new or upgraded equipment.
Rutte recalled the “historic” NATO summit in The Hague last June, where allies committed to target 5% of GDP for defense-related spending by 2035. That pledge breaks down into 3.5% for core defense needs and an additional 1.5% for defense- and security-related investments — including civil preparedness, innovation, critical infrastructure and strengthening defense industries. Rutte said the plan would rebalance the alliance’s burden-sharing and make NATO fairer.
Looking ahead to the summit in Ankara in July, Rutte urged no complacency and said NATO should build on recent achievements without delay.
On security threats, Rutte warned that Russia remains the most significant and direct danger to peace and stability in the Euro-Atlantic area, citing its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, now entering its fifth year. He added that Moscow’s actions are supported by partners including China, North Korea, Iran and Belarus. Rutte stressed the continued importance of a strong transatlantic bond: “North America and Europe have always been stronger together in NATO and that is how we will continue to stay safe in a more dangerous world.”
Edited by: Sean Sinico