NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said on Monday that he expects alliance members to agree on a broad defence spending target of 5% of their gross domestic product (GDP) during next month’s NATO summit in The Hague.
“I assume that in The Hague we will agree on a high defence spend target of in total 5%,” Rutte said during a speech at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Dayton.
“Let’s say that this [is] 5%, but I will not say what is the individual breakup—but it will be considerably north of 3% when it comes to the hard spend, and it will be also a target on defence-related spending,” he added.
Earlier this month, Reuters reported that Rutte had proposed NATO members raise direct military spending to 3.5% of GDP, with an additional 1.5% allocated to broader security-related expenditures. The proposed target—totaling 5%—comes in response to calls from U.S. President Donald Trump for NATO allies to significantly increase their defence commitments.
NATO aims to finalize and adopt the new targets during a summit of alliance leaders scheduled for June 24–25 in The Hague.
Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof confirmed that Rutte had circulated a letter to all NATO member states outlining his expectations: 3.5% of GDP to be dedicated to hard military spending and 1.5% to be spent on related areas, such as infrastructure, cyber security, and other supporting capabilities. Both goals are to be met by 2032.
The proposed figures mark a major escalation from NATO’s current defence spending levels. According to alliance estimates, NATO members collectively allocated around 2.61% of GDP to defence in 2024. However, the average conceals significant disparities. Countries such as Italy, Portugal, Canada, Slovenia, Luxembourg, Belgium, and Spain continue to fall short—some spending as little as 1.5% or below.
