EU Military Defense: defense expenditure as a share of GDP 2022, by member state

Of all the 27 member states of the European Union, only four countries reached the spending target of two percent set by NATO (all but three EU countries are NATO members) and the European Defence Agency in 2022. That the three countries - Greece, Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania - were some of the smaller EU members, highlights that the European Union is vastly underinvesting in its defense capabilities on a continent-wide scale. 

The EU average of 1.3 percent in 2022 is likely to rise in the coming years as a consequence of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, which has vastly increased the levels of military cooperation and coordination amongst other European countries. Particularly of note is Germany, the largest member state by population and GDP, which spent below the EU average and only around half of the NATO target level in 2022.