The defense expenditures of European NATO members and Canada were 20% higher in 2024 than the previous year, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said on Friday ahead of a meeting where they are likely to face renewed pressure from the US to spend more, Reuters reports.
American President Donald Trump has stepped up his calls to NATO allies to increase their defense spending, a frequent demand made during his first term.
Many members have been eager to demonstrate that they have heeded his message and have already increased military spending, especially after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
NATO says this 20% increase in spending by alliance members excluding the US amounts to over $485 billion.
"I look forward to hosting the defense ministers at NATO headquarters next week, where we will discuss larger and better investments in defense," Rutte said in response to a Reuters inquiry about the latest defense spending data.
"I've done the math. The numbers are on the rise. In fact, Europe and Canada's spending is up by 20% in 2024, bringing the total additional investment in recent years from $640 to $700 billion," Rutte conveyed.
NATO specifies that the "recent years" refer to the period starting in 2014, when members of the transatlantic military alliance agreed on the objective of spending 2% of gross domestic product (GDP) on defense.
According to NATO estimates published last year, 23 out of the 32 alliance members currently meet this target.
But Trump said last month that NATO members should now spend 5% of GDP on defense - a level that no NATO country, not even the United States, currently reaches.
Last year, US expenditures accounted for two-thirds of all NATO members' defense spending, according to alliance data.
NATO stated that it cannot provide additional spending figures at the moment, but expects to share more data at Wednesday's alliance defense ministers meeting, which will mark a first for Trump's new Pentagon chief, Pete Hegseth.