Defense spending of NATO member countries to exceed $1 trillion in 2019
Banners displaying the NATO logo are placed at the entrance of new NATO headquarters during the move to the new building, in Brussels, Belgium April 19, 2018. (Reuters File Photo)


NATO is estimating that this year its member countries' total defense expenditures will reach $1.04 trillion.

Over the last seven years -- 2012 to 2018 -- the alliance's 29 member countries spent a total of around $6.6 trillion, according to a NATO report released Tuesday.

Last year the member countries' defense expenses totaled $970.3 billion, the report highlighted.

In 2019, the U.S. made the largest single-country expenditures -- $730 billion -- followed by Britain ($60.4 billion), Germany ($54.1 billion), France ($50.7 billion), and Canada ($21.9 billion), the report said.

Turkey's defense expenditures, which were $14.1 billion last year, will reach $13.9 billion in the current year, the report forecasted.

NATO estimated that its member countries would spend 2.51% of their GDP in 2019 for defense.

The organization's member countries have a total of 3.26 million military personnel, including 41% of them in the U.S., 13% in Turkey, and 6.4% in France.

Defense expenditures included personnel, equipment, research and development, and infrastructure expenses, according to NATO.