NATO Members’ Defense-Budget Boost in 2016 Masks Differences
- Alliance report shows first overall spending boost since 2009
- Only four European members meet 2-percent-of-GDP target
A flag-bearer places the flag of the U.K. among flags of other NATO member states at the PGE National Stadium, site of the NATO summit, on July 8, 2016, in Warsaw.
Photographer: Sean Gallup/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
NATO members’ overall increase in defense spending last year masks sizable differences among individual countries, highlighting the risk of persistent tensions as U.S. President Donald Trump presses Europe to foot more of the common security bill.
Total defense expenditure by North Atlantic Treaty Organization members grew to 2.43 percent of their gross domestic product in 2016 from 2.40 percent the previous year, marking the first increase since 2009, the alliance said in an annual report released on Monday in Brussels.