Donald Trump demands NATO members up defence spends to 4% of GDP: But how much are they actually spending?

Donald Trump at a NATO Summit, particularly in light of the caustic remarks he’s made about the treaty organisation in the past, was always going to be explosive. And the US president didn’t disappoint in Brussels, kicking things off with a demand that NATO members increase their defence spending to four percent of their GDP.

At the 2014 NATO Summit in Wales, the declaration signed by all countries said:

Allies whose current proportion of GDP spent on defence is below this level (two percent of GDP) will: - halt any decline in defence expenditure; - aim to increase defence expenditure in real terms as GDP grows; - aim to move towards the two percent guideline within a decade with a view to meeting their NATO Capability Targets and filling NATO’s capability shortfalls.

As the graphic below shows, a majority of countries hadn’t even reached close to the mark by 2017, and so Trump’s demands may take some time to fulfil.