October, 2003

Military Spending in the Arab World

General -retired- Dr Adel Masoud

The 20 countries of the Arab world, according to The Military Balance 2002-03 -IISS, London, 2002-, collectively spent $51bn in 2001 on their military budgets, representing 8.22% of Arab gross national product and 6.11% of the overall world military expenditure of $835bn for that year. In 2000, the Arabs' military budget amounted to $50.4bn, or 8.24% of their GNP and 6.11% of overall world military expenditure of $825bn.

Arab military expenditure thus increased by about $600m from 2000 to 2001, a jump of 1.34%. At the same time, Arab GNP rose by about $10bn, or 1.6%, from $611bn to $621bn. While increases in GNP greater than those on military expenditure are generally considered desirable and a sign of progress, closer examination of the countries of the Arab world shows that the combined statistics do not necessarily present a true picture of the situation for many countries of the region.

To ease analysis, the Arab countries can be divided into four groups, in addition to Iraq:

Gulf -Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain-:
Group military expenditure -2001-: $34.7bn
Percentage of Arab military budget: 68%
Group GNP -2001-: $330.9bn
Military expenditure as percentage of GNP: 10.5%

Egypt and the Levant -Syria, Lebanon and Jordan-:
Group military expenditure -2001-: $7.6bn
Percentage of Arab military budget: 14.95%
Group GNP -2001-: $136.9bn
Military expenditure as percentage of GNP: 5.58%

Maghreb -Algeria, Morocco, Libya, Tunisia and Mauritania-:
Group military expenditure -2001-: $6.1bn
Percentage of Arab military budget: 11.9%
Group GNP -2001-: $103.5bn
Military expenditure as percentage of GNP: 5.21%

Iraq:
Military expenditure -2001-: $1.4bn
Percentage of Arab military budget: 2.46%
GNP -2001-: $15bn
Military expenditure as percentage of GNP: 9.3%

Horn of Africa -Sudan, Yemen, Somalia and Djibouti-:
Group military expenditure -2001-: $1.17bn
Percentage of Arab military budget: 2.29%
Group GNP -2001-: $21.38bn
Military expenditure as percentage of GNP: 5.49%

The relationship between Arab countries' GNP between 2000 and 2001 and their military expenditure:
- GNP up, military expenditure down: Jordan and Mauritania
- GNP increased in line with military expenditure: Djibouti
- GNP and military expenditure unchanged: Iraq and Libya
- GNP and military expenditure down: Saudi Arabia and Morocco
- GNP down, military expenditure unchanged: Somalia
- GNP and military expenditure up: Lebanon, Syria, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, the UAE and Yemen
- GNP the same, military expenditure up: Sudan
- GNP down, military expenditure up: Algeria, Egypt and Tunisia

Military expenditure as percentage of health and education budget:
Oman 225%
Syria 165%
Kuwait 153%
Libya 141%
Sudan 110%
Qatar 104%
UAE 90%
Algeria 70%
Bahrain 67.6%
Jordan 64.8%
Egypt 60.25%
Yemen 47%
Djibouti 46.4%
Morocco 40.38%
Mauritania 39.7%
Lebanon 23%
Tunisia 13.76%
Saudi Arabia 0.71%

A comparison between expenditure on defence and on health and education can serve as an index for human development. Six Arab countries spend more on their defence than their health and education, though with the exception of Syria and Sudan these are all major oil producers.

By way of comparison, others in the region have military budgets equivalent to a little over half their health and education budgets: Turkey 58.8%; Iran 55.76%; and Israel 52.77%.

Military aid:

While foreign military aid may be a somewhat hidden aspect of military expenditure, it is by no means unimportant, enhancing both the military capabilities of its receivers and the security and economic interests of its donors. The US is the chief provider of such aid to the Arab world, as well as to Israel and Turkey. US military aid to the Arabs amounted to about $2.73bn in 2000, $2.56bn in 2001 and $2.63bn in 2002. This aid represented 5% of total Arab military expenditure for 2001 and 22.18% of the total military expenditure of those countries that received it -Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Lebanon, Djibouti and Yemen-.

US military aid to Israel for the same years was $4.1bn, $2.8bn and $2.8bn respectively, while Turkey received $1.5bn, $1.6bn and $2.7bn for the same three years. This aid represented 26.4% and 21.62% of the 2001 military budgets of Israel and Turkey respectively.

Egypt receives nearly $2bn in US military aid, equivalent to 78.15% of the overall US military budget for the Arab countries. Jordan, Bahrain and Algeria take the second, third and fourth positions. Jordan receives $225m, 8.79% of the aid; Bahrain $200m, 7.81%; and Algeria $100m, 3.9%. Morocco, Tunisia, Lebanon, Djibouti and Yemen collectively receive $33.5m, representing 1.3% of the overall aid.

US military aid to Israel always exceeds that given to the nine Arab recipients. Israel's aid accounted for 49%, 40.23% and 34.43% of the overall US military aid to the region in the years 2000, 2001 and 2002. The Arab countries received 32.82%, 36.77% and 32.35% of total US military aid for the same years, while Turkey took 17.99%, 22.99% and 33.2%.