Germany currently hosts by far the largest number of US forces in Europe, followed by Italy, the UK and Spain. It is worth adding some US personnel based in Europe support non-Nato operations and US military numbers fluctuate as forces are rotated in and out of Europe. The biggest increases have been in Eastern and Central European countries and in Turkey. Nato estimates for 2019 show there are now eight countries - in addition to the US - spending 2% or more of their GDP on defence. Other European members spent an estimated 1% to 1.99% in 2019, with France spending 1.84% and Germany 1.38%.
