Britain has fallen down the global defence spending rankings despite Sir Keir Starmer’s pledge to make the country battle-ready.
The UK is now Nato’s 12th biggest defence spender as a share of gross domestic product (GDP), down from third in 2021 before Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
Overall, Britain spent 2.4pc of GDP on defence in 2025, up from 2.3pc in 2021, according to Nato (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization).
This minor increase indicates how the UK has been slower than many of its allies to increase defence spending to counter threats from countries such as Russia.
By contrast, Poland – which neighbours Ukraine and Russia’s ally Belarus – has climbed Nato’s rankings.
Warsaw has more than doubled the share of its economy dedicated to defence over the past three years, up from 2.2pc to 4.5pc.
Similarly, the Baltic states in close proximity to Russia have also spent more, including Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, which are all in Nato’s top five with rates of 4pc, 3.73pc and 3.38pc respectively.
Matthew Savill, of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), said the failure to match other countries’ spending growth risks undermining Britain’s position as a leader in military matters on the world stage.
“It is about political prioritisation,” he said. “We have gone from being one of the few who are meeting [Nato’s] 2pc target to being in the middle of the pack.”
This could prove to be “problematic” for the UK, he said – particularly as Nato’s 2pc target rises to 5pc by 2035 after pressure from Donald Trump, the US president.
Sir Keir, the Prime Minister, has vowed to spend 2.5pc of the country’s GDP on defence by 2028 with a further ambition to spend 3pc during the next parliament.
“The problem is that as the target has moved up, the onus falls back upon those who see themselves as leaders to take the lead,” said Mr Savill.
“At that point, while the UK can genuinely point to good [military] capability, people can ask: ‘how come you are not increasing your rate [of spending] in a way that matches your rhetorical urgency?’”
A similar picture emerges when considering the spending figures over the past decade.
In 2014, the year Putin seized Crimea, Britain spent 2.14pc of GDP on defence – the third-highest share among Nato members behind only the US and Greece.
Spending subsequently fell to 2pc in 2015 and only rose above 2014’s level again in 2020, when a sharp drop in GDP meant defence spending as a proportion of the economy bounced to 2.35pc.
The share edged back again, only exceeding 2020’s level in 2025.
In cash terms, the UK spent more than any other Nato member in Europe – and the most in the entire alliance behind the US – until 2024 when Germany pulled ahead.
Overall, the UK spent $84.2bn (£62.5bn) that year compared to Germany’s $93.7bn.
Germany still dedicates less of its GDP to defence than the UK, though its larger economy means the contribution is larger in cash terms.
Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor, is currently spearheading a major spending drive to rebuild the German military and its supply chains.
A British Government spokesman said: “This government has increased defence spending as a proportion of GDP and will go further over the coming years.
“Last year, the Prime Minister made a historic commitment to spend 5pc of GDP on national security from 2035. This is a generational increase in defence and security spending, underlining the UK’s commitment to national security and honouring our commitment to be a leader in Nato.
“The UK is currently the third-highest defence spender of 32 Nato nations and we have announced the largest sustained increase in defence spending since the end of the Cold War – hitting 2.6pc of GDP by 2027 – and an extra £5bn for defence last year alone.”