The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SPR) think tank says Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt have been among the top 10 arms importers in the world for the past five years. In this list, India is first while Pakistan is at the eighth position. According to new data on global arms transfers published by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute on March 13, the United States’ share of global arms exports rose from 33 percent to 40 percent, while Russia’s share fell to less than 22 percent. It became 16 percent.
Saudi Arabia was ranked as the second largest arms importer worldwide from 2018 to 2022. During this period, 9.6% of total imports were received. Saudi arms purchases during 2022 include economy, air defense systems, armored vehicles, missiles, naval weapons, sensors and ships.
Saudi Arabia’s largest supplier is the United States, which provides 78 percent of total weapons. The kingdom imported 6.4 percent of arms from France and 4.9 percent from Spain. The weapons supplied to Saudi Arabia by the United States include hundreds of ground-attack missiles and 91 warplanes with more than 20,000 guided bombs. Saudi Arabia’s arms imports have decreased by 8.7 percent over the past five years compared to 2013 to 2017.
Qatar has been the third largest importer of arms over the past five years, with its arms imports increasing by 311% and moving from sixth place five years earlier to third. Egypt was the sixth largest importer of arms over the past five years, up from third in the previous five years, but its arms imports fell by 5.3 percent. Over the past year, Egypt has purchased aircraft, missiles, naval weapons, sensors and ships.
The top 10 arms importers in the Middle East
Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Algeria, Morocco, Jordan, Bahrain, Iraq
Global ranking of the largest arms importers in the last five years
India, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Australia, China, Egypt, South Korea, Pakistan, Japan, USA
List of Top 10 Largest Arms Exporters
USA, Russia, France, China, Germany, Italy, UK, Spain, South Korea and Israel
