EU nations outpace Russia and China in 2024 defense spending
Countries of the European Union spent more on armaments in 2024 than Russia and China, reports the analytical portal Le Grand Continent, citing a Monday report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). The United States allocates the largest amount to defense spending, with EU countries in second place.
Last year, the 27 EU member states spent a total of approximately $370 billion on armaments. Le Grand Continent calculated that this is two and a half times more than what Russia allocated for this purpose at the same time.
Europe is arming
The portal highlighted—referencing conclusions from the SIPRI report—that an increase in spending does not directly translate into the military capabilities of a given country, as this also depends on many other factors.
The NATO summit, to be held on June 24-25 in The Hague, may be crucial for further increasing defense spending. In 2014, Alliance countries agreed that organization members should allocate 2 percent of GDP to the military. In 2023, it was adopted that this is not the upper limit, but rather a minimum financial commitment to defense.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte announced in Tokyo on April 12 that this threshold must be raised; otherwise, the Alliance will not be able to defend itself against a possible Russian attack in three to five years. Some NATO countries still do not allocate even the minimum 2 percent of GDP to armaments.
Record spending by Poland on the military
In 2024, Poland spent approximately $36 billion on defense, which constituted slightly less than 4 percent of GDP. This was a record sum in the history of Poland, with over 40 percent of the amount dedicated to new armaments and infrastructure investments for the Polish Army.
The Ministry of National Defense budget amounted to $30,8 billion after amendments, of which 99.91 percent was utilized. The remaining funds came from the Armed Forces Support Fund. In 2025, planned expenditures will rise to 4.7 percent of GDP (about $50,6 billion), and in 2026, they will exceed 5 percent of GDP.
Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Poland has increased defense spending from 2.4 percent of GDP to 4.7 percent in 2025, which represents more than a twofold increase in real terms.
