Report: Saudi Arabia world third highest military spender in 2017

Saudi Arabia has ranked third across the world with military spending which reached $69.4 billion in 2017. It replaces Russia, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said in a new report on Wednesday.

According to the report, military spending across the world has increased by 1.1 percent in 2017 compared to the previous year to reach $1739 trillion.

The report explained that Middle Eastern countries increased their military spending by 6.2 percent in 2017 where they spent 5.2 percent of their GDP on armaments; the highest in the world.

“Seven of the ten countries with highest military burden compared to their GDP are in the Middle East namely Oman (12 percent of GDP), Saudi Arabia (10 percent), Kuwait (5.8 percent), Jordan (4.8 percent) (4.7 percent), Lebanon (4.5 percent) and finally Bahrain (4.1 percent)” the report said.

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The report noted to a significant development in military spending in Algeria, which fell for the first time in more than a decade by 5.2 percent from 2016.

The United States continues to top the world’s list of military expenditure with $610 billion, followed by China, which increased its military expenditure by 5.6 percent over 2016, or $228 billion.