The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is a political and military alliance that was established on April 4, 1949 during the post-World War II period. Its primary purpose is to facilitate cooperation among member nations, ensuring mutual defense and security. NATO defines defense expenditure as payments made by a national government, excluding regional, local, and municipal authorities, specifically to fulfill the requirements of its armed forces.
It requires members to spend at least 2% of its GDP on defense. A major component of defense expenditure includes payments for active armed forces personnel as well as retired pensioners. Expenditures for stockpiling war reserves of military equipment or supplies are also included. Additionally, it encompasses expenditures for peacekeeping and humanitarian operations, as well as the destruction of weapons.
Here are the NATO defense spending.
| Rank | Country | Defense budget |
| 1. | United States | $895 billion |
| 2. | United Kingdom | $71.50 billion |
| 3. | France | $55 billion |
| 4. | Germany | $50 billion |
| 5. | Poland | $48.70 billion |
| 6. | Turkey | $47 billion |
| 7. | Canada | $41 billion |
| 8. | Italy | $30.89 billion |
| 9. | Netherlands | $27 billion |
| 10. | Spain | $23.40 billion |
| 11. | Sweden | $11.60 billion |
| 12. | Belgium | $10.20 billion |
| 13. | Norway | $9.71 billion |
| 14. | Romania | $9.70 billion |
| 15. | Denmark | $7.23 billion |
| 16. | Finland | $6.78 billion |
| 17. | Czechia | $6.75 billion |
| 18. | Greece | $6.50 billion |
| 19. | Portugal | $4.63 billion |
| 20. | Hungary | $4.58 billion |
| 21. | Slovakia | $2.66 billion |
| 22. | Lithuania | $2.39 billion |
| 23. | Estonia | $1.46 billion |
| 24. | Bulgaria | $1.37 billion |
| 25. | Croatia | $1.18 billion |
| 26. | Latvia | $1.14 billion |
| 27. | Slovenia | $889 million |
| 28. | Albania | $558 million |
| 29. | Luxembourg | $470 million |
| 30. | North Macedonia | $270 million |
| 31. | Montenegro | $120 million |
| 32. | Iceland | $0 |
