Each NATO member state contributes a share calculated in relation to its GDP. The 2% threshold is not reached by 8 countries, including Italy. Germany has increased its military spending in 2024. The largest contributor to the budget is Poland.
NATO, whose founding treaty was signed in Washington on 4 April 1949, is an intergovernmental political and military alliance in the field of collective defence and security. It includes 32 member states, 30 of which are European (including Italy) and two North American (the United States and Canada). Each state pays a different annual amount to the Atlantic Alliance's budget, which, as a general rule, tends to 2% of GDP, although this is not the case for all.
Which countries are members of NATO?
A2 CNN writes that the 32 countries that are part of NATO are: Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Norway, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, United Kingdom, Czech Republic, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, United States, Turkey, North Macedonia, Hungary, Finland and Sweden.
How much do different countries spend on NATO?
Each member state has a permanent delegation in Brussels and contributes financially, but also with operational forces, to NATO's budget and missions. However, this contribution varies from country to country: not everyone spends in the same way. A2 CNN reports that theoretically, as decided in 2014, each member state must pay at least 2% of its GDP, but this is not the case for all: Italy, for example, is among those countries that do not reach the 2% quota.
Countries that are below the 2% GDP threshold
According to a NATO report, these are the 8 countries that remain below the 2% threshold: Croatia (1.81%), Portugal (1.55%), Italy (1.49%), Canada (1.37%), Belgium (1.30%), Luxembourg (1.29%), Slovenia (1.29%) and Spain (1.1%).
How much does Italy spend on NATO?
As mentioned, Italy is among the countries that does not reach 2% even if the debate on increasing the quota is constantly open, as in other countries. In 2024, Italy invested 1.49% of its GDP in defense, or 31.957 billion euros. This is a figure that has increased by over 600 million euros compared to the previous year. This is also a constant that concerns all NATO countries, which tend to increase military spending, reports A2 CNN.
Germany has increased military spending
In 2024, Germany surpassed the 2% share of defense investment. By spending 90.6 billion euros, Berlin has reached an unprecedented figure, equivalent to 2.12% of Germany's gross domestic product.
How much does the United States invest in NATO?
The countries with the highest spending are Poland (which pays an amount equal to 4.12% of its GDP), Estonia (3.43%), the United States (3.38%), Latvia (3.15%) and Greece (3.08%). The country that invests the least is Spain (1.28%). Therefore, in terms of the GDP/spending ratio, Americans are not the biggest investors, reports A2 CNN.
Direct and indirect contributions
It should also be remembered that there are two types of possible contributions, from member countries, to the NATO budget. In addition to direct contributions (relating to financial contributions to annual programmes, the command structure and infrastructure) there are also indirect contributions, which relate to national operational forces provided to the Organisation and which are on a voluntary basis. The obligation to contribute in terms of resources and/or soldiers arises only in the cases provided for by Article 5 of the Atlantic Treaty and therefore in cases of collective defence (based on the principle that an attack on one member state is an attack on NATO as a whole). (A2 Televizion)
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