The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia announced on Sunday the rise of the military spending localization rate to 27.30 percent during the past year, as part of plans aimed at raising this rate to more than 50 percent by 2030. The Saudi Press Agency (SPA) quoted the Saudi General Authority for Military Industries (GAMI) as saying during the Military Industries Forum organized by the Authority today in the capital Riyadh that "the military spending localization rate in the Kingdom rose to 27.30% by the end of 2025, compared to 24.89% in 2024".
The Authority added that "the local content rate of military spending reached 40.91%, while the impact on the macroeconomy contributed to the gross domestic product with a value of 7.468 billion riyals, and the contribution to employment reached 5.243 billion riyals". These figures come as a step embodying progress in the ambitious localization journey towards localizing more than 50% of military spending by 2030.
For his part, GAMI Governor Bandar bin Ibrahim Al-Khreef said in his speech during the forum: "The Kingdom possesses the foundations upon which ambitions and opportunities in the sector are built, which enabled it to build an industrial base that meets local needs and demand, relying on the integration of industrial, localization, export, mining, and local content strategies, and leveraging its strategic geographical location linking three continents".
The Governor of the Authority added that the Kingdom enjoys strategic political and economic relations, alongside a strong economy, competitive energy, investment and industrial capabilities, and qualified and ambitious human resources, emphasizing that "these foundations make the Kingdom well-equipped to build a military base that contributes to responding to local demand and playing a role in serving the region and exporting". He continued that the Authority's role lies in accelerating the building of the Kingdom's industrial capabilities and enhancing its position within the global military industries system.
The Authority Governor pointed out that the Authority "has worked integrally with military and security bodies, supporting government entities, and private sector partners to strengthen and build international partnerships to enhance investment, growth, technology and knowledge transfer, and enable exports". The forum included an exhibition featuring pavilions for the Saudi General Authority for Military Industries, the World Defense Show, the National Academy for Military Industries, the Saudi Military Industries Company, the National Company for Mechanical Systems, Dar Al-Haya Company, and "BAE Systems".
These data come in the context of continuous efforts to diversify the Saudi economy and reduce reliance on oil by developing the local military industrial sector, thereby enhancing the Kingdom's economic and strategic security in the long term.
Source: Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA)
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