PARIS — NATO said all alliance members will spend at least 2% of their GDP on defense this year, the first time for that to happen since the spending target was set more than a decade ago.

Three countries – Poland, Lithuania and Latvia – are on track to meet a more ambitious target for 3.5% spending, set at a meeting just over two months ago, according to data on allied defense spending published by NATO on Thursday.

European NATO countries have raised their defense budgets following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, and also in response to criticism by U.S. President Donald Trump that allies weren’t spending enough. NATO members agreed at a June summit in the Netherlands to channel 5% of GDP into defense, including 3.5% on core defense.

“In 2025, all allies are expected to meet or exceed the pre-summit target of investing at least 2% of GDP in defense, compared to only three allies in 2014,” NATO said. “Over the past decade, European allies and Canada have steadily increased their collective investment in defense.”

The data excludes Iceland, which is a NATO member but has no armed forces, and as such doesn’t have a traditional defense budget.

NATO countries had agreed to 2% defense spending at a 2014 summit in Wales, in response to Russia’s annexation of Crimea and amid instability in the Middle East. As recently as 2022, only seven countries had met the target, rising to an estimated 18 NATO members in 2024 and 31 allies this year.

Nine countries including Poland and Germany have laws or political agreements in place that set 2% of GDP as a floor for defense spending, with the Netherlands planning to do the same as of next year following recent parliamentary approval.

At the June summit in The Hague, in addition to the 3.5% for core defense spending, NATO members agreed to spend 1.5% of GDP on resilience and readiness, ranging from protecting critical infrastructure to strengthening the defense industrial base.

European NATO countries and Canada are estimated to spend more than $607 billion on defense this year at current prices, from $516 billion in 2024 and $419 billion in 2023, with the total amount of spending having doubled in six years. Including the U.S., the alliance is expected to spend around US$1.6 trillion on defense in 2025, up from $1.45 trillion in 2024.

European NATO and Canada invested 2.02% of their combined GDP in defense in 2024, from 1.43% in 2014, according to the organization.

All NATO members except Belgium are expected to meet a target to spend at least 20% of their defense expenditure on major equipment, according to the alliance. The list of countries buying kit is lead by Poland, which is expected to spend around 54% of its defense budget on equipment.

Rudy Ruitenberg is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. He started his career at Bloomberg News and has experience reporting on technology, commodity markets and politics.