Defence spending as a share of GDP is NATO's headline burden-sharing measure, reported for every ally on a single agreed definition. On the 2025 estimate Canada spends 2.01% of GDP on defence — just across the 2% line for the first time, yet 22nd of the 30 allies reporting a 2025 figure and three-quarters of a point below the alliance average.
Related metrics. This is one component of Canada's defence posture. See also:
The 2% of GDP guideline has anchored NATO burden-sharing since the 2014 Wales Summit. Because every ally reports against NATO's single common definition — and NATO recalculates each country's spending onto that basis — the figure sidesteps the comparability problem that dogs national defence budgets, where what counts as "defence" varies widely. It is the cleanest apples-to-apples view of who pulls their weight in the Alliance. Canada sat below the 2% line for the entire decade after Wales, and crosses it only in the 2025 estimate. Meanwhile the bar has moved: at the June 2025 Hague Summit allies committed to 5% of GDP by 2035 (at least 3.5% on core defence plus 1.5% on defence- and security-related spending).
Canada · defence / GDP, 2025e
2.01%
NATO common definition. The first year Canada has met the 2% floor.
Rank among reporting allies
22 of 30
Tied with Albania and Italy. Only the six allies sitting exactly on 2.00% spend a smaller share.
Ranked by the 2025 estimate, Canada lands in the bottom third. Twenty-one allies spend a larger share of GDP on defence — led by frontline and eastern-flank states such as Poland (4.48%) and the Baltics, which spend roughly double Canada's rate. The cluster at exactly 2.00% reflects allies that reached the floor precisely in 2025; Canada is a rounding error above them.
Defence expenditure as a share of GDP, NATO members — 2025 estimate (%)
Source: NATO, Defence Expenditure of NATO Countries (2014–2025), Table 3 (share of real GDP, 2021 prices); 2024–25 figures are NATO estimates. Dashed lines mark the 2% floor and the NATO average (2.76%). 30 allies shown. Use the year buttons to step through 2014–2025; allies re-rank for the selected year.
Canada's decade below the line
Canada's defence share drifted between 1.0% and 1.5% for eleven years after the Wales pledge, peaking at just 1.47% in 2024 before the 2025 estimate jumps to 2.01% — the only year the country clears the 2% guideline.
Canada — defence expenditure as a share of GDP, 2014–2025e (%)
Source: NATO, Defence Expenditure of NATO Countries (2014–2025), Table 3. 2024–25 are NATO estimates. Dashed line marks the 2% guideline.
Findings
Finding 1
2% reached only in 2025 — for the first time
Canada's share hit 2.01% in the 2025 estimate after eleven straight years below the line. Across 2014–2024 it never exceeded 1.47%, leaving Canada among the late movers on the Wales pledge.
Finding 2
Bottom third of the Alliance
At 2.01%, Canada ranks 22nd of the 30 allies with a published 2025 figure — tied with Albania and Italy. Twenty-one allies spend more; the eight at or below Canada cluster on the 2.00% floor.
Finding 3
Below average as the bar rises
The NATO average is 2.76% and the new floor is 5% by 2035. Meeting 2% in 2025 still leaves Canada 0.75 points below the alliance average and roughly 3 points short of the 2035 commitment — among the widest gaps in NATO.
Finding 4
The Alliance converged; Canada stayed at the back
In 2014 only three allies met 2%; on the 2025 estimate every reporting ally does, and the target itself has been raised. Canada's absolute share rose, but its relative standing remains weak.
Definition. NATO defines defence expenditure as payments made by a national government specifically to meet the needs of its armed forces, those of allies, or of the Alliance. It includes major equipment and the R&D devoted to it, and pensions paid to military retirees. All allies report against this single agreed definition, and NATO recalculates national figures onto it — so the share-of-GDP figures are directly comparable across members.
Comparability. This metric is deliberately scoped to NATO members only, because the common definition is what makes the comparison apples-to-apples. Non-NATO economies (e.g. Japan, Australia) report on different bases and are excluded rather than spliced in. The 2024 and 2025 figures are NATO estimates, not finals. Germany's 2025 estimate was not published in the source report (2024 estimate: 2.00%) and is omitted from the ranking; Iceland maintains no armed forces and does not appear in NATO's defence-expenditure tables — leaving 30 allies in the 2025 ranking.
Companion workbook. The full 2014–2025 series for every member, the 2025 ranking with gap-to-target calculations, and Canada's trend live in Securing_Defence-Spending_Data.xlsx.
Page last reviewed June 2026 · Data current to the 2025 estimate — the latest NATO defence-expenditure report