A two-day summit of NATO member states begins in Vilnius on July 11. The alliance’s members plan to institute the Ukraine-NATO Council to bolster political ties and agree upon a program of assistance to Ukraine for several years. The NATO member states will also consider boosting military spending.
According to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, over 80 countries increased their military spending in 2022. The biggest military spenders are the United States ($876.9 billion), China ($292 billion) and Russia ($86.4 billion). Meanwhile, the United States is the leader in military spending among NATO member states. The alliance’s defense expenditure makes up half of all global military spending and exceeds $1.2 trillion. Inside the bloc, the countries who allocate the most funds for military needs are Great Britain, Germany, France and Italy.
In 2022, Ukraine’s military expenditures grew seven-fold from the previous year to $43.98 billion. According to TASS estimates, NATO member states financed Ukraine’s military needs to the tune of $38.6 billion over that period or 1.6% of the alliance’s total military expenditures. The Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania provided aid to Ukraine worth 15-40% of their military spending while the Czech Republic rendered $2.1 billion in assistance or almost half of its military budget.
See the TASS infographic to learn more about NATO military spending and how much aid the alliance’s member states provide to Ukraine.
NATO Military Spending in 2022
The Czech Republic spent half of its defense budget on Ukraine, while the US spent less than 3%