More than 20 NATO allies will spend 2% of their gross domestic product (GDP) on defence, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced on Monday in Washington.
New data from NATO shows that 23 allies are expected to meet the alliance's defence spending target, up from an earlier estimate of 18 members in February.
According to the figures, the European allies and Canada alone would even achieve an increase of 17.9% in defence spending.
"This is good for Europe and good for America," Stoltenberg said in a speech in Washington, praising the increase in expenditure, "especially since much of this extra money is spent here in the United States."
"Over the last two years more than two-thirds of European defence acquisitions were made with US firms. That is more than [$140 billion] worth of contracts with US defence companies," he said.
Since 2006, NATO members have pledged to spend at least 2% of their GDP on defence, but only a few have ever met this target - to the frustration of the US, the alliance's largest member and dominant military power.
Former US president Donald Trump has particularly railed against allies that have not met the alliance's defence spending metrics.
Later in the aftermath of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, NATO agreed to make this 2% figure a minimum for defence spending.
The NATO secretary general is on a visit to Washington to visit US President Joe Biden and lay the groundwork for a major summit of NATO leaders in July.
In Washington, alliance leaders are expected to adopt a plan for NATO to coordinate military aid to Ukraine for the first time under a formal mission called the NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine (NSATU).
Previously, NATO countries coordinated support to Ukraine through an informal, United States-led group called the Ukraine Defence Contact Group.