Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (excluding high income)'s military expenditure (current USD) was 64.86 billion in 2025, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is up 20.36% from 53.88 billion in 2015 (1.87% a year on average, compounded).
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 64.86 billion | 2025 |
| Five years earlier | 42.23 billion | 2020 |
| Ten years earlier | 53.88 billion | 2015 |
| Highest | 64.86 billion | 2025 |
| Lowest | 1.03 billion | 1962 |
| Average since 2016 | 51.57 billion | 2016–2025 |
| First recorded | 1.03 billion |
What the numbers say
In 2025, Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (excluding high income)'s military expenditure (current USD) rose 10.4% on 2024 (from 58.74 billion to 64.86 billion).
Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was +5.2% and a typical year strayed about 10.3% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.5 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.
On record, the biggest yearly rise was 130.8% in 1974 and the biggest yearly fall was 59.9% in 1993. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.
From 2016 to 2025 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 19% of the movement over 10 observed years, so the value is moving around more than it is heading anywhere.
Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.
How it compares
See how every economy compares in the full ranking.
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (excluding high income) | 64.86 billion | 2025 |
| World | 2.86 trillion | 2025 |
What this measures
Military spending USD, in current prices (converted at the exchange rate for the given year)
Limitations: SIPRI strives to compile reliable, consistent military expenditure data by assessing multiple sources, but accuracy depends on the quality and transparency of those sources. Challenges arise from two key issues: whether reported figures reflect actual spending and how closely they match SIPRI’s definition. While data is generally accurate in developed and many developing countries, weak governance, corruption, and secret transfers in others can lead to major discrepancies. SIPRI sometimes makes estimates, when sources conflict or lack coverage, introducing uncertainty, especially for countries like China or the UAE.
Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.
All 64 values
| Year | Military expenditure (current USD) |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 64,855,171,159 |
| 2024 | 58,741,800,967 |
| 2023 | 53,892,329,938 |
| 2022 | 46,218,082,498 |
| 2021 | 45,542,578,409 |
| 2020 | 42,231,666,253 |
| 2019 | 46,142,180,398 |
| 2018 | 51,839,907,913 |
| 2017 | 54,450,297,395 |
| 2016 | 51,817,804,830 |
Military expenditure (current USD) in nearby economies
- Afghanistan — 278.25 million (2021)
- Algeria — 25.44 billion (2025)
- Bahrain — 1.47 billion (2025)
- Egypt, Arab Rep. — 2.5 billion (2025)
- Iran, Islamic Rep. — 7.4 billion (2025)
- Iraq — 6.45 billion (2025)
- Israel — 48.28 billion (2025)
- Jordan — 2.56 billion (2025)
- Kuwait — 8.09 billion (2025)
- Lebanon — 828.3 million (2025)
- Libya
More public sector data for Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (excluding high income)
- Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values) — 1.97 billion (2025)
- Military expenditure (% of GDP) — 3.23% (2025)
- Military expenditure (% of general government expenditure) — 13.93% (2025)
- Armed forces personnel, total — 4.19 million (2020)
- Armed forces personnel (% of total labor force) — 2.09% (2020)
- CPIA business regulatory environment rating (1=low to 6=high) — 2.4 (2025)
- CPIA debt policy rating (1=low to 6=high)
Reading data like this
Questions people ask
- What is Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (excluding high income)'s military expenditure (current USD)?
- 64.86 billion in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 1962?
- It is up 6,192% from 1.03 billion in 1962 (6.8% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 64.86 billion in 2025 and the lowest 1.03 billion in 1962.
- Is the latest change in military expenditure (current USD) unusual for Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (excluding high income)?
- In 2025, Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (excluding high income)'s military expenditure (current USD) rose 10.4% on 2024 (from 58.74 billion to 64.86 billion). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was +5.2% and a typical year strayed about 10.3% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.5 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.
Source
World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator MS.MIL.XPND.CD, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: SIPRI Military Expenditure Database, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), uri: https://www.sipri.org/databases Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.
Want to ask your own questions of data like this? Try AnalyzeIt: upload a file or ask about public data in plain words, and every figure comes with its working.
Legal entity
Devansh Yadav
Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh
Governing law: Courts at Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh
Phone: +91 8433475698
Legal: legal@analyzeit.in