Five NATO members are projected to meet the alliance's ‌goal of spending 3.5% of gross domestic product on core defense already in 2026, according to updated NATO data published on Tuesday ahead of a leaders' summit in Ankara, which also showed some members are still ‌expected to spend only about 2%.

At a summit in ​The Hague last year, NATO leaders pledged to spend 3.5% of GDP on core defense items such ⁠as weapons and troops by 2035 — up from a previous ​goal of 2%.

They also agreed to invest a further 1.5% of ⁠GDP on broader defense-related investments such as boosting cybersecurity.

Alliance members have faced pressure from President Donald Trump to demonstrate they are stepping up on ‌defense spending.

Data released on Tuesday put Lithuania as the ​alliance's top spender as ‌a percentage of economic output, with core defense expenditure estimated at 5.33% of GDP ‌this year.

It was followed by Estonia (5.1%), Latvia (4.92%), Poland (4.68%) and Greece (3.65%).

The report showed that last year, three NATO members – Albania (1.48%), Slovenia (1.57%), and ⁠the Czech Republic (1.86%) did ‌not meet the previous ⁠target of 2%.

It also showed that Albania and the Czech Republic are expected ⁠to ⁠spend over 2% this year, with a note included stating that Slovenia's new government ‌plans to spend more than 2%.

Some others are estimated to be at or slightly above 2%, including Belgium (2%), Portugal (2.1%), and Italy (2.1%).

The United States ‌is estimated ​to be spending 3.17%, ‌while Germany is at 2.69%, United Kingdon at 2.56% and France at 2.22%, according to the projections.

In total, European ​NATO members and Canada are projected to spend 2.53% of GDP this year on core defense.