Israel vs Saudi Arabia: Military spending as a share of GDP
Israel
5.6%
in 2019
Saudi Arabia
6.7%
in 2019
Israel rank
6th
Saudi Arabia rank
5th
Military spending as a share of GDP over time
- Israel
- Saudi Arabia
How they compare
Saudi Arabia currently reports 6.7% against 5.6% in Israel, a difference of 1.1%.
That makes Saudi Arabia's figure about 1.2 times Israel's.
The two have swapped places 11 times across 72 shared years of data; in 1948 it was Israel ahead.
Israel ranks 6th and Saudi Arabia ranks 5th of 172 countries.
Across the 8 decades both report, Israel averaged higher in 3 and Saudi Arabia in 5.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Israel | Saudi Arabia | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1940s | 3.7% | 2.4% | 1.3% | Israel |
| 1950s | 3.1% | 4.5% | 1.4% | Saudi Arabia |
| 1960s | 5.9% | 3.1% | 2.8% | Israel |
| 1970s | 14.3% | 6.9% | 7.5% | Israel |
| 1980s | 11.2% | 13.9% | 2.7% | Saudi Arabia |
| 1990s | 6.9% | 8.2% | 1.3% | Saudi Arabia |
| 2000s | 5.4% | 5.6% | 0.2% | Saudi Arabia |
| 2010s | 5.5% | 6.1% | 0.6% | Saudi Arabia |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher military spending as a share of gdp, Israel or Saudi Arabia?
- Saudi Arabia, at 6.7% against 5.6% in Israel as of 2019.
- What is the difference in military spending as a share of gdp between Israel and Saudi Arabia?
- 1.1%, with Saudi Arabia ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Israel and Saudi Arabia?
- 72 years are reported by both, from 1948 to 2019.
- How do Israel and Saudi Arabia rank globally for military spending as a share of gdp?
- Israel ranks 6th and Saudi Arabia ranks 5th of 172 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- Barnum et al. - Global Military Spending Dataset (2025) β 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.
Individual pages
About this data
Military spending measured as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP).