Arms sales to Saudi Arabia and Qatar almost triple in four years

Stockholm Peace Institute study shows Gulf states amassing huge military stockpiles, as US remains biggest exporter

Report finds that controversial Yemen campaign aided by high arms sales by top exporters

Monday 22 February 2016

Weapons imports by Saudi Arabia and Qatar have rocketed by over 275 percent over the past four years, a new report found on Monday.

Between 2011 and 2015, Gulf states were the most significant market for sales by the United States, the world’s biggest arms exporter, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) found.

In a new report assessing worldwide trends in arms sales over the last four years, SIPRI found that increased demand from the Middle East had led a 14 per cent global rise in arms transfers.

The increase was not marked universally – arms imports to European states fell by 41 per cent between 2011 and 2015.

By contrast, arms imports by Middle Eastern states grew by 61 per cent – the largest regional increase – during a period marked by massive internal unrest as well as the rise of Islamic State.

At the forefront of this growth were Saudi Arabia – now the world’s largest importer of weapons – and Qatar.

Arms purchases by Qatar between 2011 and 2015 jumped by 279 per cent, while Saudi Arabia’s increased by 275 per cent over the same period compared to the previous four years.

Despite increased competition from China – whose arms exports increased by 88 per cent - the US has remained the world’s largest arms dealer.

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