Morocco’s Military Budget Soars to Record $4.8 Billion in 2022

The government of Aziz Akhannouch will not stop the ongoing dynamic of making the kingdom a military power. The 2022 finance bill presented by the new Moroccan executive provides for a historic increase in the military budget and will be mainly dedicated to the acquisition of weapons and the strengthening of the personnel of the Moroccan armed forces.

In 2021, Morocco’s military budget increased by 30% compared to the previous year, reaching 4.295 billion euros. In 2022, it should reach 4.8 billion euros, an increase of 11.76%. If voted as is, this budget would constitute the largest military budget in the history of the kingdom. Currently, military spending represents 4.28% of GDP and more than 12% of the country’s total public spending, according to La Información.

Morocco has launched an ambitious program to modernize its army since 2012. In this context, it has acquired 36 Apache helicopters, 200 Abrams M1A1 tanks, anti-tank and surface-to-air missiles, and renewed its fleet of F16s. Over the past two years, Rabat has signed weapons acquisition contracts with Washington worth more than 10 billion euros and has just concluded an agreement with Israel to manufacture combat drones and short and medium-range missiles. In April, Rabat had concluded an agreement with the Turkish government to acquire 13 Bayraktar 12 drones.

All these acquisitions place Morocco as a major military power in the Maghreb, and could "be used in any armed conflict that could break out with Algeria or to counter any attack by the Polisario Front along the wall of Western Sahara," says military analyst Mohammad Shkeir, in an article published in ’Defense News’.

The 2022 military budget also reserves a significant share for strengthening the personnel of the Royal Armed Forces. Currently at 175,000 soldiers, it should reach 200,000, which would allow, according to the Moroccan authorities, to further secure the borders.