NATO on Thursday said 22 of its 32 members hit the defense spending threshold of two percent of GDP last year, as US President Donald Trump pushes to more than double that target.
European countries have ramped up their military budgets since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine and NATO has set two percent as a bottom line for spending.
Ahead of a June summit, Trump is pressuring Washington’s allies to go much further and agree to a new goal of spending five percent of GDP — well above the current US level.
The US president has warned he could refuse to help protect countries that do not spend enough on their own defence.
NATO had earlier forecast that 23 countries would hit the two-percent level in 2024.
Overall spending by European members and Canada rose by more than 19 percent last year, NATO said in its annual report.
Ahead of the summit in the Hague however, several countries that still fall short of the spending target have pledged to step up.
Spain this week said it would invest more than 10 billion euros to hit the two-percent level this year.
The United States remains by far the biggest military spender in NATO. Last year, it accounted for 64 percent of all defence expenditure in dollar terms.
