A decade after NATO's 2% pledge, 17 of 31 members with a military finally cleared the bar — and the frontline overshot it

In 2014, the year of the Wales pledge, 3 NATO members spent 2% of GDP on defence. On SIPRI's measure as compiled by the World Bank, 17 did in 2024 — with Poland (4.15%) now outspending the United States (3.42%) as a share of its economy, and the three Baltic states posting the alliance's largest decade-long increases.