European defence in numbers

Europe is spending more than before. Its countries still buy mostly on their own.

EU countries spent €418bn on defence in 2025, including €115bn on equipment. Yet EDA reported European collaborative procurement at just 11 %.

EU-27 · 2025 · constant 2025 prices · rounded. Some inputs are estimated or incomplete.

Spending jumped by a fifth

+20% in one year

After falling from €226bn in 2005 to €195bn in 2014, spending climbed to €418bn. The rise from €349bn in 2024 was 20% in a single year.

Billions of euros at constant 2025 prices.

The modernization money exists

Of the €418bn total, €134bn went into investment. Equipment procurement alone reached €115bn.

total expenditure€418bn

investment€134bn

equipment procurement€115bn

Equipment procurement is included within investment.

Country by country

NATO estimates that its European Allies and Canada together spent 2.31 % of GDP on core defence in 2025. Highest share: Poland, at 4.25 %.

Core defence expenditure under NATO's definition as a share of real GDP, NATO estimates. Figures under NATO's definition can differ considerably from national budgets. Dashed lines: 2 % of GDP, the 2014 commitment, and 3.5 % of GDP, the target for core defence spending by 2035. “NATO Europe and Canada” is NATO's grouping of its European Allies and Canada, not the EU. NATO: Defence Expenditure of NATO Countries (2014–2026), Table 3

How much equipment do countries buy together?

EDA tracks the share of military-equipment procurement that countries conduct jointly with other European countries. For 2025 it reports 11 %. 19 of 27 Member States supplied the indicator.

joint European equipment procurement11 %

EDA collective benchmark35 %

0%20%40%

Selected points labelled directly in EDA's chart. The number of reporting countries changes over time.

This does not mean 11% of the €115 billion: EDA did not publish the matching basis needed for that calculation. Incomplete reporting may understate the true share.

The 35% benchmark is collective and voluntary; it is not binding on individual countries.

Budgets are rising faster than cooperation

More money alone will not create a common European defence. While countries plan and buy mainly on their own, much of Europe's strength remains a sum of national budgets.