Region: Defence spending rises by 6%

Governments in the Middle East increased their defence spending by 6.2% in 2017, according to the latest analysis of expenditure trends by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri), released on 2 May. Saudi Arabia continues to overshadow other countries in the region, with an outlay last year of $69.4bn, up 9.2% on 2016. Worldwide, total military expenditure was $1.74trn in 2017, an increase of 1.1% in real terms from 2016 and equivalent to 2.2% of global GDP.