Kuwait vs United Arab Emirates: Military spending as a share of GDP
Kuwait
4.6%
in 2019
United Arab Emirates
4.8%
in 2019
Kuwait rank
10th
United Arab Emirates rank
9th
Military spending as a share of GDP over time
- Kuwait
- United Arab Emirates
How they compare
United Arab Emirates currently reports 4.8% against 4.6% in Kuwait, a difference of 0.2%.
The two have swapped places 3 times across 48 shared years of data; in 1971 it was Kuwait ahead.
Kuwait ranks 10th and United Arab Emirates ranks 9th of 172 countries.
Across the 5 decades both report, Kuwait averaged higher in 4 and United Arab Emirates in 1.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Kuwait | United Arab Emirates | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 2.9% | 1.0% | 1.9% | Kuwait |
| 1980s | 5.0% | 3.2% | 1.9% | Kuwait |
| 1990s | 19.3% | 2.3% | 17.0% | Kuwait |
| 2000s | 4.1% | 2.3% | 1.8% | Kuwait |
| 2010s | 3.2% | 4.1% | 0.9% | United Arab Emirates |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher military spending as a share of gdp, Kuwait or United Arab Emirates?
- United Arab Emirates, at 4.8% against 4.6% in Kuwait as of 2019.
- What is the difference in military spending as a share of gdp between Kuwait and United Arab Emirates?
- 0.2%, with United Arab Emirates ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Kuwait and United Arab Emirates?
- 48 years are reported by both, from 1971 to 2019.
- How do Kuwait and United Arab Emirates rank globally for military spending as a share of gdp?
- Kuwait ranks 10th and United Arab Emirates ranks 9th 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).