U.S. soldiers assigned to NATO's battlegroup in Poland bellow a war cry during a bayonet training exercise March 10, 2023. NATOs annual report released March 21 noted that the U.S. accounts for 54% of the allies combined GDP but 70% of NATO defense expenditure. (Kevin T. Brown Jr./U.S. Army National Guard)
Defense spending among NATO allies increased once again in 2022, but the number of countries hitting the alliance’s benchmark for military expenditures fell short of expectations.
The findings, included in NATO’s new annual report, showed that seven of 30 allies spent at least 2% of their gross domestic product on defense, down from eight in the previous year.
“We actually expected that (number) to be slightly more,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters Tuesday in Brussels. “But because GDP has increased more than expected for a couple of allies, two allies that we expected to be at 2% are now slightly below 2%.”
The seven countries that hit the mark are the United States, Greece, Poland, the United Kingdom, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Only three members were at 2% in 2014.
Overall defense spending, however, climbed for the eighth straight year, with collective expenditures increasing by 2.2% from the previous year.
Still, NATO countries are “not moving as fast as the dangerous world we live in demands,” Stoltenberg said.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg speaks at a news conference in Brussels on March 21, 2023, coinciding with the release of the alliance's annual report. (NATO)
“While I welcome all the progress that has been made, it is obvious that we need to do more and we need to do it faster,” he added.
The United States also still carries a disproportionate share of the burden, accounting for 54% of the allies’ combined GDP but 70% of allied defense expenditure, the report said.
When NATO heads of state meet for a summit this summer in Vilnius, Lithuania, members are expected to set more ambitious spending goals, Stoltenberg said.
The agenda coincides with the Russia-Ukraine war, which has reinvigorated NATO and added urgency to efforts aimed at bolstering its eastern flank.
Before Feb. 24, 2022, when Russia started the war by launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, many NATO members were heavily dependent on Moscow for their energy supplies.
The Kremlin tried to use its stranglehold on natural gas delivery to punish Europe for imposing sweeping sanctions, which are still in place.
With their energy security under threat, many European countries swiftly turned to alternatives and ended their dependence on stocks supplied by Russia.
The war also has heightened a general appreciation for the alliance among citizens of the trans-Atlantic pact, according to public sentiment surveys included in NATO’s annual report.
For example, 74% of those polled across the alliance support maintained or increased defense spending, up from 70% in 2021, the report said.
The polling also showed that citizens believe NATO membership increases their country’s security, with 61% believing it makes an attack by a foreign nation less likely, compared with just 53% in 2021.
The survey was carried out in November 2022 and involved all 30 member states plus prospective members Finland and Sweden. It had a margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.
