Saudi Arabia ranked first in Arab world, sixth globally for military spending

WASHINGTON, Sept. 22 (YPA) – An American report has revealed that Saudi Arabia is the Arab country that spends the most in the military field, followed by the UAE and Kuwait, while its army ranked second in the Arab world after Egypt.

According to statistics issued by the “Global Firepower” website for the year 2022, Saudi Arabia represents the most Arab country spending on its armies, while its defense budget ranks number 9 in the world.

The report indicated that Saudi spending this year amounted to 46 billion dollars.

The UAE ranked second in the Arab world and 13th globally, with a defense budget estimated at $25.2 billion. The budget of Kuwait, which ranks third in the Arab world and 29th globally, was estimated at $8.1 billion.

In December 2021, Saudi Arabia announced its intention to allocate 171 billion riyals ($45.58 billion) for military spending in 2022, a 10.2% decrease from spending estimates of 190 billion riyals in 2021.

During the year 2020, the Kingdom ranked first in the Arab world and sixth globally in terms of the volume of spending on armaments, according to data issued by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute “SIPRI” in April 2021.

The Saudi Military Industries Authority had set a goal to absorb more than half of military spending by 2030, create 40,000 jobs, and contribute up to 14 billion riyals ($3.7 billion) to the gross domestic product.

YPA