Qatar Becomes World's Third Biggest Military Spender: UK Report

The tiny Kingdom of Qatar has moved up three places on the list of the World's biggest military spenders in two years and now ranks behind Saudi Arabia and India.

Qatar, which entered the Top Ten for the first time in 2015 (ranked sixth), is now ranked third, with significant imports from the USA, Germany, Switzerland and France, according to data released by UK Defense and Security Export Statistics for 2016 released last month.

Qatar’s spending increased significantly after it imported 24 Dassault Rafale aircraft for $7.1 billion from France, 24 AH-64 Apache attack helicopters for $2.4 billion from US in 2015.

According to the data, the Middle East dominated global defence imports in the 2007-16 period, with Saudi Arabia the world’s biggest defence importer, the same position it held in the 2006-15 period.

The UAE was ranked seventh. Iraq was ranked eighth, up one place. Egypt entered the top ten in tenth spot, largely based on 2016 imports, which included significant equipment from Russia and France. Australia, 4th in the rankings last time has slipped to fifth. North America continues to rank in the Top Ten, with the USA fourth and Canada sixth. Latin America’s sole entry is Brazil, ranked ninth.