Which has higher military spending as a share of gdp, Iraq or United Arab Emirates?

United Arab Emirates, at 4.8% against 4.2% in Iraq as of 2019.

What is the difference in military spending as a share of gdp between Iraq and United Arab Emirates?

0.6%, with United Arab Emirates ahead.

How many years of comparable data are there for Iraq and United Arab Emirates?

48 years are reported by both, from 1971 to 2019.

Where does this data come from?

Barnum et al. - Global Military Spending Dataset (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as Military spending as a share of GDP. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Iraq vs United Arab Emirates: Military spending as a share of GDP

Iraq

4.2%

in 2019

United Arab Emirates

4.8%

in 2019

Iraq rank

11th

United Arab Emirates rank

9th

Military spending as a share of GDP over time

Iraq
United Arab Emirates

How they compare

United Arab Emirates currently reports 4.8% against 4.2% in Iraq, a difference of 0.6%.

That makes United Arab Emirates's figure about 1.1 times Iraq's.

The two have swapped places 3 times across 48 shared years of data; in 1971 it was Iraq ahead.

Iraq ranks 11th and United Arab Emirates ranks 9th of 172 countries.

Across the 5 decades both report, Iraq averaged higher in 4 and United Arab Emirates in 1.

Head to head by decade

Decade	Iraq	United Arab Emirates	Difference	Ahead
1970s	7.5%	1.0%	6.5%	Iraq
1980s	24.5%	3.2%	21.3%	Iraq
1990s	12.8%	2.3%	10.5%	Iraq
2000s	2.0%	2.3%	0.2%	United Arab Emirates
2010s	4.9%	4.1%	0.8%	Iraq

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher military spending as a share of gdp, Iraq or United Arab Emirates?: United Arab Emirates, at 4.8% against 4.2% in Iraq as of 2019.
What is the difference in military spending as a share of gdp between Iraq and United Arab Emirates?: 0.6%, with United Arab Emirates ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Iraq and United Arab Emirates?: 48 years are reported by both, from 1971 to 2019.
How do Iraq and United Arab Emirates rank globally for military spending as a share of gdp?: Iraq ranks 11th and United Arab Emirates ranks 9th of 172 countries.
Where does this data come from?: Barnum et al. - Global Military Spending Dataset (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as Military spending as a share of GDP. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

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Iraq vs United Arab Emirates: Military spending as a share of GDP. Statizoid, drawing on Barnum et al. - Global Military Spending Dataset (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Retrieved 13 September 2026, from https://economy.statizoid.com/compare/military-spending-as-a-share-of-gdp-gmsd/iraq/united-arab-emirates/

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<a href="https://economy.statizoid.com/compare/military-spending-as-a-share-of-gdp-gmsd/iraq/united-arab-emirates/">Iraq vs United Arab Emirates: Military spending as a share of GDP</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator: Military spending as a share of GDP
Unit: % of GDP
Source: Barnum et al. - Global Military Spending Dataset (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage: 172 places, 14,793 data points, 1816–2019
Last refreshed: 28 August 2026

Military spending measured as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP).