Only the United States, Hungary and Czechia decreased their annual investment
European NATO allies and Canada increased defense spending by 20% in 2025, compared to the previous year. , the document points to a significant increase in military investment, in a context of growing global instability.
Secretary-General Mark Rutte now expects countries to maintain this trajectory and move towards the target of 5% of GDP in Defense-related expenditure by 2035. The objective is to guarantee reinforced capacity, both at military level and in complementary areas, such as cybersecurity and infrastructure.
“I hope that the Allies, at the next NATO Summit in Ankara, will demonstrate that they are on a clear and credible path towards the 5% objective”, wrote Rutte, adding that “a strong transatlantic bond remains essential in an era of global uncertainty”.
The NATO Secretary General also recalls that last year NATO countries faced a period marked by increasing challenges to transatlantic security, having responded to multiple threats. Rutte highlights Russia as the main direct risk due to the war in Ukraine, supported by China, North Korea, Iran and Belarus.
“To protect the Alliance’s critical infrastructure at sea, we launched Operation Baltic Sentry. To increase our surveillance and strengthen our deterrence and defense along the eastern flank, we also launched Operation Eastern Sentry. Having more forces ready on land, at sea and in the air sends a strong signal of Alliance solidarity, strength and determination. The historic NATO Summit held in The Hague in June 2025 was a defining moment for our Alliance. Allied leaders agreed measures to significantly strengthen our deterrence and defense”, he writes, referring to the commitment to “invest 5% of GDP in defense annually by 2035”.
The report also indicates that all NATO members have reached or exceeded the minimum objective of 2% of GDP in Defense, defined in 2014, with several countries recording significant increases. In 2025, the Alliance’s total expenditure stood at 2.77% of GDP.
In the document, Rutte also says that last year “all Allies reported Defense expenditure figures that met or exceeded the 2% target established for the first time in 2014, with many recording significant increases in expenditure”.
Portugal complies with the minimums
strictly complying with the minimum objective defined by NATO several years ago, but which many of the Member States did not meet.
Some countries, such as Poland, Lithuania and Latvia, have already exceeded the intermediate target of 3.5% allocated to direct military spending.
The United States continues to represent the largest share of NATO’s financial effort, being responsible for around 60% of the organization’s total expenditure in 2025, even though it invested less than in the previous year, something that only Hungary and Czechia did. Trump has demanded that European NATO Allies significantly increase defense spending, arguing that these countries must assume primary responsibility for the continent’s conventional defense.
In a message published on the Truth Social network, Trump criticized members of the Atlantic Alliance for not having done anything about Iran, stating that the US “doesn’t need anything from NATO”.
Donald Trump even accused allies of having done “ABSOLUTELY NOTHING” to help the United States in Iran.
The publication also comes with a warning, as the United States “will NEVER FORGET” what happened.
“NATO nations have done absolutely nothing to help with the lunatic, now militarily decimated nation of Iran. The United States doesn’t need anything from NATO, but ‘never forget’ this very important point”, it reads.
