Saudi Arabia: Arms exports (SIPRI trend indicator values)

Key figures

Since 1967 it is down 25% from 4 million in 1967 (0.51% a year on average, compounded). The World Bank has no value for 40 of the years in between; the chart leaves those gaps open rather than joining across them.

How it compares

See how every economy compares in the full ranking.

Closest to Saudi Arabia in the 2023 ranking

• New Zealand — 1st of 2: 20 million

What this measures

Arms transfers (exports) cover the volume of transfers of major arms through sales and gifts, and those made through manufacturing licenses. Data cover major conventional weapons such as aircraft, armored vehicles, artillery, radar systems, missiles, and ships. Figures are SIPRI Trend Indicator Values (TIVs). A '0' indicates that the volume of deliveries is between 0 and 0.5 million SIPRI TIV.

Limitations: SIPRI calculates the volume of transfers to, from and between all parties using the TIV and the number of weapon systems or subsystems delivered in a given year. This data is intended to provide a common unit to allow the measurement if trends in the flow of arms to particular countries and regions over time. Therefore, the main priority is to ensure that the TIV system remains consistent over time, and that any changes introduced are backdated. SIPRI TIV figures do not represent sales prices for arms transfers.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a sum.

All 17 values

Arms exports (SIPRI trend indicator values) in nearby economies

• Egypt, Arab Rep. — 2 million (2024)
• Iran, Islamic Rep. — 80 million (2025)
• Israel — 2.62 billion (2025)
• Jordan — 226 million (2024)
• Libya — 0 (2016)
• Pakistan — 127 million (2025)
• Qatar — 2 million (2025)
• United Arab Emirates — 33 million (2025)

More public sector data for Saudi Arabia

• Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values) — 3.04 billion (2025)
• Military expenditure (current USD) — 83.18 billion (2025)
• Military expenditure (current LCU) — 311.93 billion (2025)
• Military expenditure (% of GDP) — 6.48% (2025)
• Military expenditure (% of general government expenditure) — 23.53% (2025)
• Armed forces personnel, total — 282,000 (2020)
• Armed forces personnel (% of total labor force) — 1.92% (2020)
• Statistical performance indicators (SPI): Pillar 1 data use score (scale 0-100) — 80 (2024)
• Statistical performance indicators (SPI): Pillar 3 data products score (scale 0-100)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Saudi Arabia's arms exports (SIPRI trend indicator values)?

3 million in 2023, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1967?

It is down 25% from 4 million in 1967 (0.51% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 58 million in 2011 and the lowest 0 in 1976.

Where does this data come from?

The World Bank's World Development Indicators, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Arms Transfers Programme, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), uri: https://armstransfers.sipri.org/ArmsTransfer/.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator MS.MIL.XPRT.KD, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Arms Transfers Programme, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), uri: https://armstransfers.sipri.org/ArmsTransfer/ 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.

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