GENEVA, July 8 — Defense spending by NATO member states is projected to exceed US$1.8 trillion in 2026, driven by increased military investment across the alliance following commitments made at last year’s The Hague summit.
According to Anadolu Ajansi, based on NATO’s latest defense expenditure estimates released Tuesday, the alliance’s 32 members are expected to spend a combined over US$1.8 trillion on defense in 2026, up about 11 per cent from an estimated US$1.63 trillion in 2025.
The US is projected to remain by far the alliance’s biggest military spender, with defense expenditure estimated at US$1.03 trillion, accounting for roughly 57 per cent of NATO’s total spending.
Germany is expected to rank second with about US$147 billion, followed by the UK (US$110 billion), France (US$80 billion), Italy (US$57 billion), Poland (US$53 billion), Canada (US$52 billion) and Türkiye (US$48 billion).
NATO estimates that five allies – Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Poland and Greece – will spend more than 3.5 per cent of GDP on core defense in 2026, surpassing the benchmark agreed by alliance leaders at the 2025 Hague summit.
Overall, NATO’s average core defense spending is projected at 2.86 per cent of GDP.
At The Hague summit, allies agreed to invest 5 per cent of GDP in defense and defense-related spending by 2035, including 3.5 per cent for core defense and 1.5 per cent for broader security-related investments such as critical infrastructure, resilience and innovation.
