FROM the 26th largest spender of military weapons in 2021, Kuwait’s ranking dropped to 30th place in 2022.
The data was released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
According to the report released this week, Kuwait’s military expenditure dropped by 11 percent last year, with the country spending $8.2 billion on training and equipping forces for military operations.
Researchers acquired the data based on NATO‘s definition of military expenditures which include peacekeeping forces, defense ministries, and other government agencies engaged in defense projects, paramilitary forces, and military space activities.
The expenditures are also military and civil personnel, retirement pensions and social services for military personnel, operation, and maintenance, procurement, military research and development as well as military aid.
For the Middle East alone, total military expenditure by countries is estimated at $184 billion in 2022.
Saudi Arabia was the largest spender in the region and the fifth largest worldwide, allocating an estimated $75 billion in 2022 to its armed forces.
Meanwhile, global military spending increased by 3.7% in 2022, bringing the total to $2,240 billion, while Europe also witnessed its highest expenditure in 30 years.
The Russia-Ukraine war and tensions in East Asia pushed the al military spending to surge at a level not seen since the cold war.
The United States, China, and Russia accounted for 56% of the global total spending in 2022.
