The most threatened European countries have long been spending above 4%, close to 5% of GDP, on security and defence.
72% confidence
DefenceEuropean Union
Omissions
In the most recent full actuals (2025), only Poland was clearly above 4% of GDP (4.48%); Lithuania (4.00%), Latvia (3.73%) and Estonia (3.38%) were still below 4%, so 'close to 5%' applies mainly to the 2026 NATO estimates rather than to a long-standing trend.
The 2026 figures reflect NATO's revised methodology, which broadens the categories counted as defence spending (including defence- and security-related investment, resilience and infrastructure), inflating the headline percentages relative to the older series.
Historical NATO data for 2022-2023 show much lower spending by these countries (roughly 2-3% of GDP), so the framing 'od dawna / for a long time' overstates the duration of the elevated spending.
The most precise primary data (NATO 'Defence Investment of NATO Countries 2014-2026', cut-off 3 July 2026) was located but its exact per-country figures could not be fully extracted here; the values cited come from secondary reporting of that report.
Sources
PrimaryNATO — Defence Investment of NATO Countries (2014-2026)Official NATO defence expenditure series; 'The cut-off date for information used in this report was 3 July 2026. Figures for 2025.' Includes 2026 estimates for all Allies.
SecondaryEuronews — European defence spending: Poland spends larger share of GDP than USAt the top sits Poland, spending 4.48% of GDP on defence in 2025 — more than double the old benchmark and the highest in the alliance... The NATO average in 2025 was 2.76% of GDP. Outside Poland, Lithuania and Latvia, countries already clearing the core target, every large...