EU Member State defence expenditure

In 2022, collective annual EU defence budgets had already increased to €240 billion, of which €58 billion (+24.2 % compared to 2021) was for defence investment (defence R&D and defence procurement), a real increase of more than 6 % compared to 2021. In 2023, Member States reached a combined €279 billion (1.6 % of GDP) and €326 billion in 2024 (1.9 % of GDP). Defence spending increased by over 30 % in real terms from 2021 to 2024. Additional spending of more than €100 billion is projected in real terms by 2027. The defence expenditure of the 23 EU countries that are also NATO members amounted to 1.99 % of their combined GDP in 2024, with a forecasted rise to 2.04 % in 2025. Of NATO’s 32 members, 23 were expected to meet the 2 % benchmark in 2024 (16 of which are also in the EU). However, there are significant regional differences in the EU; while growth has been steady and has gained momentum in most of Europe, it has remained more subdued in southern European countries.
Given the size of its economy, Germany is the top spender in Europe in absolute terms, spending €90.6 billion (2.12 % of GDP) in 2024, driven more by expanded allocations from the €100 billion Sondervermögen (special fund for defence) than a core budget rise. In March 2025, German lawmakers approved a historic shift to exempt defence and security spending beyond 1 % of GDP from debt limits, enabling a €500 billion fund for defence and infrastructure. France also continued to raise defence spending, to €59.6 billion (2.06 % of GDP) in the 2024 defence budget. President Macron intends to increase French defence spending to 3.5 % of GDP, but has not given a timeframe. In Poland, spending has skyrocketed since 2022 (up 52.3 % in 2023 and 16.9 % in 2024), bringing the budget to PLN151 billion (€34 billion, or 4.12 % of GDP). Poland has thus become NATO’s top defence spender by GDP, with plans to reach 4.7 % in 2025. The largest southern European economies, Italy and Spain, have not followed the trend. Spain’s defence budget remained flat for over a decade, with 2022 spending matching 2008 levels in real terms. Although an 18 % real-terms increase began in 2023, growth stalled again in 2024 when the country failed to pass a new budget, resulting in a real-terms decline. Italy also had a decade of stagnation until moderate growth resumed in 2022, bringing spending back to 2008 levels in real terms. However, Italy plans to double its spending over four years and Spain has also vowed to reach 2 % in 2025.