Saudi Arabia Becomes World's Biggest Defense Importer

According to the latest publication by the Global Defense Trade Report, U.S. ally Saudi Arabia surpassed India to become the world's largest weapons importer in 2014, a year when global defense trade increased for the sixth straight year to a record US$64.4 billion, global research company IHS said on Sunday.

"Defense trade rose by a landmark 13.4 percent over the past year. This record figure has been driven by unparalleled demand from the emerging economies for military aircraft and an escalation of regional tensions in the Middle East and Asia Pacific."

According to the report, Saudi Arabia is now the largest defense market as inbound shipments jumped 54 percent in 2014.

The report also predicts that Saudi Arabia to remain on top with US$9.8 billion spending by the end of this year.

"Growth in Saudi Arabia has been dramatic and, based on previous orders, these numbers are not going to slow down," an IHS statement quoted its senior defense analyst Ben Moores as saying.

Meanwhile, the biggest beneficiary of the growing Middle Eastern market was the United States, with US$8.4 billion of arms shipments to the region last year, up from US$6 billion in 2013.

The IHS report found that the United States remained the top defense exporter in 2014, ahead of Russia, France, Britain and Germany, a top-five ranking unchanged from 2013.