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

Israel
5.6%
in 2019
United Arab Emirates
4.8%
in 2019
Israel rank
6th
United Arab Emirates rank
9th

Military spending as a share of GDP over time

  • Israel
  • United Arab Emirates
05101520194819832019

How they compare

Israel currently reports 5.6% against 4.8% in United Arab Emirates, a difference of 0.8%.

That makes Israel's figure about 1.2 times United Arab Emirates's.

Across all 48 years both countries report, Israel has been ahead every year.

Israel ranks 6th and United Arab Emirates ranks 9th of 172 countries.

Israel has averaged higher in every one of the 5 decades both report.

Head to head by decade

Decade Israel United Arab Emirates Difference Ahead
1970s 14.5% 1.0% 13.4% Israel
1980s 11.2% 3.2% 8.1% Israel
1990s 6.9% 2.3% 4.6% Israel
2000s 5.4% 2.3% 3.2% Israel
2010s 5.5% 4.1% 1.4% Israel

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher military spending as a share of gdp, Israel or United Arab Emirates?
Israel, at 5.6% against 4.8% in United Arab Emirates as of 2019.
What is the difference in military spending as a share of gdp between Israel and United Arab Emirates?
0.8%, with Israel ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Israel and United Arab Emirates?
48 years are reported by both, from 1971 to 2019.
How do Israel and United Arab Emirates rank globally for military spending as a share of gdp?
Israel ranks 6th 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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Israel 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/israel/united-arab-emirates/

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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

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