Bahrain’s military expenditure increased by 26% last year to $1.236 billion - and has rocketed by 110% since 2004, a report said, adding that tensions with Iran caused defense spending to more than double in a decade.
Military spending in the rest of the world, excluding the US, increased by just 1.8% last year, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said.
“Military spending in the Middle East increased by 4% in 2013, reaching an estimated $150 billion,” said the SIPRI's Trends in Military Expenditure in 2013 report.
An outlay of $67 billion last year meant Saudi Arabia was the biggest defense spender in the region.
Iranian tensions were again credited with prompting a 14% increase in Saudi defense expenditure compared to 2012.
In contrast, military expenditure in Oman fell by 27% compared to 2012, but was still 31% higher than in 2011.
The SIPRI report states that figures for military expenditure in the Middle East have traditionally been uncertain and there was no available data for Iran, Qatar, Syria, the UAE or Yemen.
Globally, military expenditure fell in real terms last year by 1.9% to reach $1,747 billion.
The report describes the global, regional and national trends in military expenditure with a special focus on those countries that have more than doubled their military spending between 2004 and last year.
A total of 23 countries doubled their military spending in real terms between 2004 and 2013, the report says.
The five biggest spenders last year were the US, China, Russia, Saudi Arabia and France - although military spending by the Americans fell by 7.8% to $640 billion.
Source: SIPRI
Photo: UAE F-16 Block 60 fighter jet
