Europe and Canada Increased Defense Spending by 20 Percent in 2024

Defense spending by nato’s European members and Canada increased by 20 percent in 2024 over the previous year, nato Secretary General Mark Rutte said on February 7.

We’ve crunched the numbers. They’re going up. In fact, spending by Europe and Canada is up 20 percent in 2024, bringing the total additional investment in recent years from $640 to $700 billion.
—Mark Rutte

In total, the boost by the alliance’s non-America members took defense spending to more than $485 billion. The alliance’s defense ministers will hold a meeting next week to talk about investing even more in the coming years, Rutte added.

5 percent: United States President Donald Trump said last month that nato members should spend 5 percent of their gross domestic product on defense, a drastic increase from the previous 2 percent goal, and one that the U.S. itself doesn’t even meet.

Polish Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said on Wednesday the country’s goal is to “keep America close and Russia at bay” by aiming for the 5 percent target. Lithuania and Latvia also committed to the target.

But the economic powerhouses in the European Union, Germany and France, initially pushed back, saying the target was too high for the short term and their countries are already ramping up their defense budgets.

European superpower: As time moves on, the combined pressures of Russia’s aggression and Trump’s return could see the entire Continent reaching the 5 percent target, if not more. Bible prophecy shows a powerful and unified European superpower will soon emerge.

To learn more, read our Trends article “Why the Trumpet Watches Europe’s Push Toward a Unified Military.”