Saudi Arabia has the third-largest defense budget in the world; Saudi military spending last year was almost $70 billion — only the United States and China spent more. However, the level of spending is unsustainable and inconsistent with the kingdom’s stated intent to retool the economy. And the Saudis are not buying what the White House is selling.
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), a credible authoritative source of information on global defense spending, reports that the Saudis spent $69.4 billion on military expenditures in 2017. This is a 9.2% increase from 2016 and accounts for 10% of gross domestic product. Saudi defense spending had been as high as $90 billion in 2015, but the drop in oil prices led to a 30% decline in military spending in 2016. The rise in oil prices this year will help the Saudi budget, but the rise in oil prices is still considerably short of what Riyadh needs to balance its budget and afford expensive weapons.
Saudi Arabia's rivals in the Middle East do not begin to approach Saudi defense spending. Iran spent $14.5 billion in 2017. Israel spent $16.5 billion, although it received an additional $3.1 billion in military aid from the American taxpayers. All three are engaged in expensive proxy wars, but the Saudi war in Yemen is undoubtedly the most expensive. Even though the kingdom does not provide any accounting for this war, it is probably around $3 billion to $5 billion a month.
Due to the chaos and lack of transparency in government spending, SIPRI provides no estimate of defense spending for some Arab states. The United Arab Emirates is a particularly dark hole. Algeria is the largest spender in Africa at around $10 billion.
AL-MONITOR All-Access gives you unlimited access to all our journalism, the full Daily Briefing, exclusive interviews, premium newsletters, and live events — for less than $2/week.
