Italy Announces Plan to Increase Defence Spending to 5% of GDP Within a Decade

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani announced that Italy intends to increase its defence spending to 5% of its GDP within the next ten years, up from the current level of approximately 2.1%. The statement was made during a joint session of the foreign affairs and defence committees of the Italian parliament, where a report on the recent NATO summit in Ankara (July 7-8, 2026) was also presented. Tajani confirmed Italy's commitment to the NATO agreement reached at last year's summit in The Hague, which set a target of 5% of GDP for defence spending by 2035. Under that agreement, 3.5% of GDP would be allocated to core defence, and 1.5% to related objectives such as critical infrastructure protection and civil defence. According to NATO estimates, Italian defence spending was 2.09% of GDP in 2025 and 2.10% in 2026.