Morocco Ranks Among Top 10 Middle East Arms Importers, SIPRI Report Reveals

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the ten main arms importers in the Middle East are: Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Algeria, Morocco, Jordan, Bahrain and Iraq. SIPRI also states that the vast majority of arms and armaments imports in the Middle East come from the United States (54%), followed by France (12%), Russia (8.6%) and Italy (8.4%).

These imports include more than 260 advanced fighter jets, 516 new tanks and 13 frigates, this independent think tank points out, noting that "the Arab states of the Gulf region alone have placed orders for more than 180 additional fighter jets." The think tank notes that overall arms imports to the Middle East have, however, decreased by 8.8% between 2013-2017 and 2018-2022.