Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), published a report Monday, 11th March 2019, revealing that imports of arms in the Middle East reached 35% between 2014-2018 of global imports in the last five years.

The report showed that arms flows increased by 87% in the Middle East between 2009-2013 and 2014-2018, while there was a decrease for all other regions of the planet.

Arms imports by Saudi Arabia increased by 192% between 2009-2013 and 2014-2018, making it the world’s largest arms importer in 2014-2018.

The report added that imports of arms from Egypt, the third largest in the world, have tripled by more than 206% in 2009-2013 and 2014-2018.

The study on the global arms trade ranks five main exporters: the United States, Russia, France, Germany, and China. Put together, these five countries are worth about 75% of the total volume of arms exports over the last five years.