Saudi Arabia’s defence spending is set to increase as the kingdom’s 2016 budget allocates SR213bn for military and security services.

The 2016 allocation for military spending will see the kingdom dedicate almost 25 per cent of its annual budget to military and security services despite an overall shrinking of government expenditure.

Although information regarding actual defence spending is often not shared with the public it is understood that in 2015 Saudi Arabia spent approximately SR183bn, according to various estimates from international think tanks and research centres.

The 2016 budget, which was announced on 28 December, will see Saudi Arabia increase its defence spending amid increased regional tensions and the continuing conflict in Yemen.

Further to this Saudi Arabia is forecast to increase defence-specific spending to about $60bn a year by 2020 to give it the fifth-largest defence budget in the world. The kingdom’s defence spending is understood to have been growing by an average of 19 per cent annually since 2001.

Saudi Arabia has been taking part in a military offensive in Yemen led by defence minister Mohamed bin Salman. In recent years Saudi Arabia has ramped up its military activity in the region, particularly against groups it claims are supported by Tehran, such as the Houthi’s in Yemen.

In early December Saudi Arabia set up what it has called an Islamic military coalition made up of Sunni countries such as Egypt, Pakistan and Indonesia to fight the threat of religious extremism in the region. The exact remit of this coalition has not yet been disclosed.