Saudi military expenditure fifth-highest in the world in 2022: Report

Saudi Arabia was the world’s fifth-largest military spender in 2022, overtaking the UK, Germany, and France, according to the Trends in World Military Expenditure 2022 report published on Monday by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

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The Kingdom’s military expenditure reached $75 billion last year, an increase of 16 percent from the previous year when it placed eighth globally.

At 7.4 percent, Saudi Arabia spent more of its GDP on defense than any other country except for Ukraine.

The entire Middle East region spent $184 billion on defense in 2022. In comparison, Israel’s defense spending fell by 4.2 percent to $23.4 billion as the country made cuts to balance its budget.

Overall, global military spending rose by 3.4 percent to reach an all-time-high of $2.2 trillion.

European military expenditure saw its steepest year-on-year increase in 30 years as the war in Ukraine rages on.

The three highest spenders – the US, China and Russia—accounted for 56 per cent of the world’s total defense spending, while Saudi Arabia made up 3.3 percent.

Ukraine, which placed 11th overall, increased its spending by 640 percent to $44 billion, or 34 percent of its GDP.

Notably, the United Arab Emirates was excluded from SIPRI’s data collection. The country’s military spending has not been publicly available since 2014, SIPRI said in a separate report from 2016.

Increased spending “is a sign that we are living in an increasingly insecure world,” Dr Nan Tian, Senior Researcher with SIPRI’s Military Expenditure and Arms Production Program said in a statement.

“States are bolstering military strength in response to a deteriorating security environment, which they do not foresee improving in the near future,” he added.

SIPRI includes data from the armed forces, defense ministries and other government agencies involved in defense, paramilitary forces, and military space activities.

This includes expenditure on personnel including salaries, pensions, and social services; and expenditure on maintenance, procurement, research, and military aid.

Civil defense and current expenditures on existing military activities including veterans’ benefits, demobilization, weapon destruction, and military involvement in non-military activities (such as policing), are excluded.

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