Israeli defense spending jumped in 2024, part of overall rise in Middle East: SIPRI

The F-16I has been in service for 20 years with the IDF, and several squadrons fly the warplane. (IDF)

BEIRUT — The Middle East’s share of global defense spending increased 15 percent in 2024, driven in part by a multi-billion jump by Israel amid a multi-front conflict, according to new data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

“Military expenditure in the Middle East reached an estimated $243 billion in 2024, an increase of 15 [percent] from 2023 and 19 [percent] more than in 2015,” a SIPRI report issued Monday said.

Military spending in Israel increased by 65 percent or equivalent to $46.5 billion in 2024, which marks the highest annual increase since 1967, a product of conflicts in which Jerusalem is engaged from Gaza, to Yemen, to Lebanon and Syria.

“Its military burden rose to 8.8 [percent] of GDP, the second highest in the world,” the report specified.

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Meanwhile Lebanon, which is reeling from Israeli strikes both at the southern border and recently in the southern suburb of Beirut itself, also dramatically increased spending. While its starting budget is much smaller relatively, its spending went up 58 percent to a total of $635 million.

“Despite widespread expectations that many Middle Eastern countries would increase their military spending in 2024, major rises were limited to Israel and Lebanon,” said Zubaida Karim, a researcher with the SIPRI Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme, in the report.

She added that other countries in the Middle East didn’t “significantly increase spending in response to the war in Gaza or were prevented from doing so by economic constraints.”

Meanwhile, Iran’s military spending decreased by 10 percent to reach $7.9 billion in 2024, even though its affiliated arms groups like Lebanese Hezbollah and Yemeni Houthis were directly involved in various conflicts. “The impact of sanctions on Iran severely limited its capacity to increase spending,” the report justified.

In 2023, Iran was the fourth largest defense spender in the Middle East with a total of $10.3 billion.

On the Gulf side, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which has been one of the largest defense importers throughout recent years, increased its defense spending to $80.3 billion, which is a 1.5 percent rise only in 2024. That makes it the seventh highest defense spender worldwide, a drop from fifth in 2023, but ranking as the leading Middle East country.