Data Visualization Defense
Defenders of NATO

NATO members are expected to spend at least 2 percent of their GDP on defense, and at least 20 percent of their defense spending is supposed to go to equipment. Currently, 00 member nations meet both criteria, though most have only reached them recent years. Many prominent figures have called for defense spending to go well beyond the 2 percent minimum.

NATO Average

Current NATO member

Non-NATO member in


Notes: This page was first published March 28, 2025. Figures for 2023 and 2024 are estimates. NATO averages exclude Iceland because it has no military. Equipment expenditures include major equipment expenditures and R&D devoted to major equipment. Sweden, Finland, North Macedonia, and Montenegro became NATO members in 2024, 2023, 2020, and 2017, respectively.

Source: North Atlantic Treaty Organization, “Defence Expenditure of NATO Countries (2014-2024)”, June 17, 2024.

Design and Development: Data visualization by John W. Fleming and Jay Simon.