Politics

This is How Much NATO Countries Spend on Defense

Published

2 years ago

September 23, 2021

Avery Koop

Visualizing NATO Defense Spending by Country

Can I share this graphic?
Yes. Visualizations are free to share and post in their original form across the web—even for publishers. Please link back to this page and attribute Visual Capitalist.

When do I need a license?
Licenses are required for some commercial uses, translations, or layout modifications. You can even whitelabel our visualizations. Explore your options.

Interested in this piece?
Click here to license this visualization.

This Is How Much NATO Countries Spend on Defense

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) exists for the sole purpose of facilitating a political and military alliance between almost 30 countries. All are obligated to one another in times of war, but some countries have much stronger militaries and defense systems than others.

Using data from NATO, this map reveals what each NATO member country spends on its own national defense.

Note: Numbers are 2021 projections.

Biggest NATO Defense Spenders

The U.S. spends more on defense than any other NATO country.

According to the 2021 estimates, U.S. defense spending will be close to $811 billion this year. On the other hand, the defense spending of all other NATO countries combined is projected to be $363 billion, meaning the U.S. will outspend all other countries by a whopping $448 billion.

Rank	Country	Millions (USD) 2021p	Change (2014-2021)
#1	🇺🇸 United States	$811,140	24.0%
#2	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	$72,765	10.8%
#3	🇩🇪 Germany	$64,785	40.3%
#4	🇫🇷 France	$58,729	12.9%
#5	🇮🇹 Italy	$29,763	21.5%
#6	🇨🇦 Canada	$26,523	46.0%
#7	🇪🇸 Spain	$14,875	17.7%
#8	🇳🇱 Netherlands	$14,378	38.9%
#9	🇵🇱 Poland	$13,369	32.3%
#10	🇹🇷 Turkey	$13,057	-3.8%
#11	🇳🇴 Norway	$8,292	7.4%
#12	🇬🇷 Greece	$8,014	53.1%
#13	🇧🇪 Belgium	$6,503	25.1%
#14	🇷🇴 Romania	$5,785	114.9%
#15	🇩🇰 Denmark	$5,522	36.1%
#16	🇨🇿 Czech Republic	$4,013	103.2%
#17	🇵🇹 Portugal	$3,975	32.2%
#18	🇭🇺 Hungary	$2,907	140.3%
#19	🇸🇰 Slovakia	$2,043	104.6%
#20	🇭🇷 Croatia	$1,846	73.6%
#21	🇱🇹 Lithuania	$1,278	198.8%
#22	🇧🇬 Bulgaria	$1,253	67.7%
#23	🇱🇻 Latvia	$851	189.9%
#24	🇪🇪 Estonia	$787	53.2%
#25	🇸🇮 Slovenia	$760	56.0%
#26	🇱🇺 Luxembourg	$474	87.4%
#27	🇦🇱 Albania	$239	33.8%
#28	🇲🇰 North Macedonia	$219	76.6%
#29	🇲🇪 Montenegro	$97	40.0%

NATO is based on building up forces and equipment for the goal of joint security and defense. And, despite the pandemic, many members did increase their spending in 2020.

However, not all countries contribute equally. The agreed-upon target for European NATO members, for example, is to spend 2% of GDP on defense by 2024, but many countries are not on track to meet this goal.

Who Pays for NATO Itself?

One of the key pillars of NATO is collective defense: a commitment to the idea that an act of violence against one or more of its member states is an act of aggression towards all.

Collective defense, cooperative security, and crisis management are at the heart of NATO’s purpose and operations.

Apart from defense spending, running a transcontinental political alliance costs around $3 billion annually. So which countries foot the bill for these expenses?

Country	Cost Share Arrangements (2021-2024)
🇺🇸 United States	16.36%
🇩🇪 Germany	16.36%
🇬🇧 United Kingdom	11.29%
🇫🇷 France	10.50%
🇮🇹 Italy	8.79%
🇨🇦 Canada	6.88%
🇪🇸 Spain	6.00%
🇹🇷 Turkey	4.73%
🇳🇱 Netherlands	3.45%
🇵🇱 Poland	2.99%
🇧🇪 Belgium	2.11%
🇳🇴 Norway	1.78%
🇩🇰 Denmark	1.31%
🇷🇴 Romania	1.23%
🇬🇷 Greece	1.06%
🇨🇿 Czech Republic	1.06%
🇵🇹 Portugal	1.05%
🇭🇺 Hungary	0.76%
🇸🇰 Slovakia	0.52%
🇧🇬 Bulgaria	0.37%
🇭🇷 Croatia	0.30%
🇱🇹 Lithuania	0.26%
🇸🇮 Slovenia	0.23%
🇱🇺 Luxembourg	0.17%
🇱🇻 Latvia	0.16%
🇪🇪 Estonia	0.12%
🇦🇱 Albania	0.09%
🇮🇸 Iceland	0.06%
🇲🇪 Montenegro	0.03%
Total	100.00%

Members have pre-arranged mechanisms to divide NATO alliance expenses evenly.

Getting into specifics, the members are paying for:

Civilian staff wages and overhead costs of running NATO headquarters.
Running strategic commands, joint operations, early warning and radar systems, training, etc.
Defense communications systems, harbors, airfields, and fuel supplies.

The Future of NATO

While outright nation-on-nation conflict is becoming more rare, threats to the collective security of NATO allies have not disappeared.

While countries may have differing opinions over the exact amount each should contribute, rising expenditures are a sign that NATO is still a priority for the near future.

Up Next

The Best Selling Vehicles in America, By State

Don't Miss

This Simple Chart Reveals the Distribution Of Global Wealth

Click for Comments

Maps

Visualizing the BRICS Expansion in 4 Charts

We provide a data-driven overview of how the recent BRICS expansion will grow the group’s influence and reach.

Published

4 weeks ago

August 24, 2023

Marcus Lu

Visualizing the BRICS Expansion in 4 Charts

BRICS is an association of five major countries including Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. Distinguished by their emerging economies, the group has sought to improve diplomatic coordination, reform global financial institutions, and ultimately serve as a counterbalance to Western hegemony.

On Aug. 24, 2023, BRICS announced that it would formally accept six new members at the start of 2024: Saudi Arabia, Iran, Ethiopia, Egypt, Argentina, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

In this graphic, we provide a data-driven overview of how the BRICS expansion will grow the group’s influence and reach.

Share of Global GDP

Because most of the new BRICS members are considered to be developing economies, their addition to the group will not have a major impact on its overall share of GDP.

The following table includes GDP projections for 2023, courtesy of the IMF.

Original BRICS Member	Country	GDP (USD billions)	Share of Global (%)
Yes	🇧🇷 Brazil	$2,081	2.0%
Yes	🇷🇺 Russia	$2,063	2.0%
Yes	🇮🇳 India	$3,737	3.6%
Yes	🇨🇳 China	$19,374	18.4%
Yes	🇿🇦 South Africa	$399	0.4%
No	🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia	$1,062	1.0%
No	🇮🇷 Iran	$368	0.4%
No	🇪🇹 Ethiopia	$156	0.1%
No	🇪🇬 Egypt	$387	0.4%
No	🇦🇷 Argentina	$641	0.6%
No	🇦🇪 UAE	$499	0.5%
-	BRICS Total	$30,767	29.3%
-	Rest of World	$74,362	70.7%

The original six BRICS members are expected to have a combined GDP of $27.6 trillion in 2023, representing 26.3% of the global total. With the new members included, expected GDP climbs slightly to $30.8 trillion, enough for a 29.3% global share.

Share of Global Population

BRICS has always represented a major chunk of global population thanks to China and India, which are the only countries with over 1 billion people.

The two biggest populations being added to BRICS are Ethiopia (126.5 million) and Egypt (112.7 million). See the following table for population data from World Population Review, which is dated as of 2023.

Original BRICS Member	Country	Population	Share of Global (%)
Yes	🇧🇷 Brazil	216,422,446	2.7%
Yes	🇷🇺 Russia	144,444,359	1.8%
Yes	🇮🇳 India	1,428,627,663	17.8%
Yes	🇨🇳 China	1,425,671,352	17.7%
Yes	🇿🇦 South Africa	60,414,495	0.8%
No	🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia	36,947,025	0.5%
No	🇮🇷 Iran	89,172,767	1.1%
No	🇪🇹 Ethiopia	126,527,060	1.6%
No	🇪🇬 Egypt	112,716,598	1.4%
No	🇦🇷 Argentina	45,773,884	0.6%
No	🇦🇪 UAE	9,516,871	0.1%
-	BRICS Total	3.7 billion	46.0%
-	Rest of World	4.3 billion	54.0%

It’s possible that BRICS could eventually surpass 50% of global population, as many more countries have expressed their desire to join.

Share of Oil Production

Although the world is trying to move away from fossil fuels, the global oil market is still incredibly large—and BRICS is set to play a much bigger role in it. This is mostly due to the admission of Saudi Arabia, which alone accounts for 12.9% of global oil production.

Based on 2022 figures from the Energy Institute Statistical Review of World Energy, BRICS’ share of oil production will grow from 20.4% to 43.1%.

Original BRICS Member	Country	Thousand Barrels per Day	Share of Global (%)
Yes	🇧🇷 Brazil	3,107	3.3%
Yes	🇷🇺 Russia	11,202	11.9%
Yes	🇮🇳 India	737	0.8%
Yes	🇨🇳 China	4,111	4.4%
Yes	🇿🇦 South Africa	0	0.0%
No	🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia	12,136	12.9%
No	🇮🇷 Iran	3,822	4.1%
No	🇪🇹 Ethiopia	0	0.0%
No	🇪🇬 Egypt	613	0.7%
No	🇦🇷 Argentina	706	0.8%
No	🇦🇪 UAE	4,020	4.3%
-	BRICS Total	40,454	43.1%
-	Rest of World	53,394	56.9%

It’s worth noting that China has been pushing for oil trade to be denominated in yuan, and that Saudi Arabia’s acceptance into BRICS could bolster this ambition, potentially shifting the dynamics of global oil trade.

Share of Global Exports

The last metric included in our graphic is global exports, which is based on 2022 data from the World Trade Organization. We can see that the BRICS expansion will grow the group’s share of global exports (merchandise trade) to 25.1%, up from 20.2%.

Original BRICS Member	Country	Exports (USD billions)	Share of Global (%)
Yes	🇧🇷 Brazil	334	1.3%
Yes	🇷🇺 Russia	532	2.1%
Yes	🇮🇳 India	453	1.8%
Yes	🇨🇳 China	3,594	14.4%
Yes	🇿🇦 South Africa	123	0.5%
No	🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia	410	1.6%
No	🇮🇷 Iran	73	0.3%
No	🇪🇹 Ethiopia	3.9	0.02%
No	🇪🇬 Egypt	49	0.2%
No	🇦🇷 Argentina	88	0.4%
No	🇦🇪 UAE	599	2.4%
-	BRICS Total	6,259	25.1%
-	Rest of World	18,646	74.9%

Unsurprisingly, China is the world’s largest exporter. Major exporters that are not a part of BRICS include the U.S. (8.3%), Germany (6.6%), the Netherlands (3.9%), and Japan (3.0%).

Who Else Wants to Join?

According to Reuters, there are over 40 countries that have expressed interest in joining BRICS. A smaller group of 16 countries have actually applied for membership, though, and this list includes Algeria, Cuba, Indonesia, Palestine, and Vietnam.

As the group grows in size, differing opinions and priorities among its members could create tensions in the future. For example, India and China have had numerous border disputes in recent years, while Brazil’s newly elected President has sought to “kickstart a new era of relations” with the U.S.

One thing that is certain, however, is that a new acronym for the group will be needed very soon.