Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt rank among world’s top 10 arms importers: SIPRI

Salim A. Essaid

Mar 13, 2023

An F-16 pilot from an airbase in Saudi Arabia gets ready to disembark from his aircraft after he was diverted to Kuwait because of bad weather after his mission into Iraq March 26, 2003 as Operation Iraqi Freedom continues after a pause in the air campaign due to bad weather. (Photo by Paula Bronstein/Getty Images) — An F-16 pilot from an airbase in Saudi Arabia gets ready to disembark from his aircraft after he was diverted to Kuwait because of bad weather after his mission into Iraq on March 26, 2003, as Operation Iraqi Freedom continues after a pause in the air campaign due to bad weather. — Paula Bronstein/Getty Images

DUBAI — Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt were classified among the top 10 global arms importers from 2018 to 2022, according to a report published Monday by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

Arms imports by Middle Eastern and North African countries in those five years were overall 8.8% lower than the previous five-year period from 2013 to 2017, and the United States accounted for 54% of them.

France (12%), Russia (8.6%) and Italy (8.4%) came after Washington as the top suppliers of weaponry to the region.

Saudi Arabia was the world’s second-largest arms importer during that period and received 9.6% of all arms imports, second only to India at 11%, according to SIPRI’s Trends in International Arms Transfers 2022.

Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt rank among world’s top 10 arms importers: SIPRI

Middle East countries made up more than a fourth of the top 40 global arms importers from 2018 to 2022, according to a new report.

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