Datanomics: Nato common funding gets equal share from US, Germany

Germany now matches the US in NATO's common funding, but Washington continues to shoulder the majority of indirect military contributions to the alliance

North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) leaders are currently meeting in Turkiye's capital Ankara amid calls by the United States (US) to increase the funding burden of the non-US members.  Nato is resourced through direct and indirect contributions of its members. Direct contributions finance Nato's budgets, programmes, and capabilities. An important part of direct finances is the common funding. In this funding, Germany contributes as much as the US does. It is the indirect funding where the US has the lion's share.  Nato does not have its own armed forces, so allies contribute troops and equipment on a voluntary basis. These individual contributions are pooled together to form a collective alliance capability, with each state covering the costs for their own deployed forces.  Over the years, the US’ contribution to indirect funding has come down, but it still chipped in over 60 per cent in 2025 (estimates).