NATO Allies Set 5 Percent GDP Defence Spending Target by 2035

NATO Allies agreed at the 2025 summit in The Hague to invest 5 percent of annual GDP on core defence requirements and defence- and security-related spending by 2035. 5 percent of GDP for NATO-defined defence expenditures to meet capability targets. 5 percent may cover critical infrastructure protection, network defence, civil preparedness, innovation, and the defence industrial base.

Allies had previously pledged 2 percent of GDP at the 2014 Wales Summit. That pledge followed Russia's annexation of Crimea and instability in the Middle East. In 2025 every NATO member met or exceeded the 2 percent target. Only three Allies had reached that level in 2014.

Canada raised defence spending 20 percent from 2024 levels. S. 3 percent of their collective GDP. NATO also tracks the share of defence budgets spent on major equipment and research. The 2014 pledge set a 20 percent guideline for this category to support modernisation and avoid equipment obsolescence.