NATO released new figures showing that all 32 member states are on course this year to hit the alliance’s long-standing target of allocating at least 2% of gross domestic product to defence, the first time the goal will be universally met. The collective outlay is projected to top $1.5 trillion in 2025. Yet only three countries—Poland, Lithuania and Latvia—currently surpass the tougher 3.5% threshold agreed at a June summit in The Hague, itself a stepping-stone toward a broader objective of spending 5% of GDP on security-related items by 2035, a target promoted by U.S. President Donald Trump. Speaking at the opening of an ammunition factory in Unterlüß, Germany, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte welcomed the higher budgets but cautioned that “cash alone doesn’t provide security,” urging governments to translate spending into usable capabilities. Rutte also warned that Russia and China are rapidly expanding their defence industries, staging joint manoeuvres and preparing for potential confrontation with the United States and its allies. Poland, already the alliance’s biggest spender relative to its economy at 4.48% of GDP, said it will lift the ratio to 4.8% next year. Several Western European members, including Spain and Belgium, have signalled they will struggle to climb much above the 2% baseline, highlighting the uneven pace at which allies are closing the gap with the new 3.5% benchmark.