Combat tank strength MENA 2020, by country

In 2021, Syria had the highest number of military tanks in the MENA region at about 3,740 combat tanks, closely followed by Egypt.

MENA military trends

In 2015, Saudi Arabia was ranked the third highest investor in military expenditure globally. It was then ranked fifth worldwide in 2019 and first in the Middle East and North Africa region at almost 61.7 billion U.S. dollars. The conflict and instability in the area caused it to have to maintain a very high military spending. Some of the conflict countries which ranked very highly for risk of conflict in 2020 included Iraq, Yemen, Syria, and Palestine. The MENA region had the highest share of military expenditure compared to its gross domestic product in comparison to other regions. For Saudi Arabia, military spending as a share of GDP reached eight percent in 2019.

MENA budget deficit

The public debt in the MENA region was, on average, 40 percent of their GDP in 2018. The governments found it necessary to spend more on their military due to the widespread instabilities, conflicts, and disputes. In 2020, Yemen was among the countries that was facing a very high risk of public deficits and deprivation. The military expenditure budgets can be seen as a burden as they leave the states with very little to spend the welfare of the public. The unequal distribution of public finances has caused the uprising of protests such as the case with the Arab Spring.