Turkey’s military spending jumps to $30B, leads Mideast growth in 2025
Newly released data shows Ankara’s military spending hit $30 billion, while Saudi Arabia remained the region’s top spender and Israel’s outlays declined in 2025.
ANKARA — Turkey recorded the largest increase in military spending among Middle Eastern countries in 2025, rising to $30 billion, according to data released on Monday by the leading arms watchdog Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
Turkey’s military expenditure “reached $30 billion in 2025, an increase of 7.2% from 2024 and of 94% from 2016,” SIPRI said, ranking Turkey 18th globally.
The increase was driven primarily by investments in Turkey’s domestic arms industry, SIPRI reported, citing allocations to the government-controlled Defense Industry Support Fund. Allocations to the fund, an off-budget mechanism used to finance Turkey’s domestic arms production and procurement, rose 25% year-on-year and accounted for 22% of total military spending in 2025.
The spending also reflects Turkey’s expanding military footprint abroad, with the report citing Syria, Somalia and Iraq.
