Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Israel top Middle East military budgets
The Global Firepower website has said in its latest ranking that Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Israel accounted for the largest military budgets in the Middle East in 2026. Based on the estimate, the combined defence budgets of the 10 countries included in the organisation’s regional list exceed $220 billion.
In the ranking, Saudi Arabia tops the list with a defence budget of about $63.99 billion. Turkey is second with about $51.4 billion, while Israel ranks third with a budget of about $34.6 billion.
The report adds that military spending in the region continues to rise as geopolitical tensions intensify and military modernisation programmes accelerate. According to the source, countries in the region are still competing to strengthen their air, land and naval capabilities.
Based on the ranking, the United Arab Emirates is fourth with a defence budget of about $23.48 billion. Qatar also appears among the countries with the highest military spending in the region, with a budget of about $11.95 billion.
Iran, with a defence budget of about $9.23 billion, is in sixth place on the list. Oman, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait and Egypt appear in the following positions.
Global Firepower has also released details on the military capabilities of some countries. According to the report, Turkey has about 2,284 tanks, 1,101 aircraft, 509 helicopters and 192 naval vessels, and its active-duty force stands at about 481,000.
The report also estimates Israel’s arsenal at about 1,300 tanks, 597 aircraft, 127 helicopters and 82 naval vessels. However, it stresses that these figures do not necessarily mean the equipment is ready for combat.
Israel’s Knesset also increased the country’s military budget in March 2026, a move that, according to the report, pushed its defence budget to more than $45 billion. As for Saudi Arabia, the report says the kingdom has in recent years been one of the world’s major arms importers.
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute had previously reported that global military spending reached $2.887 trillion in 2025, a record high that rose for the 11th consecutive year. According to that same report, military spending in the Middle East reached about $218 billion in 2025.
