| Military branches | Ministry of Defense: Royal Saudi Land Forces, Royal Saudi Naval Forces (includes marines, special forces, naval aviation), Royal Saudi Air Force, Royal Saudi Air Defense Forces, Royal Saudi Strategic Missiles Force; Ministry of the National Guard (SANG); Ministry of Interior: Border Guard, Facilities Security Force (2021) note: SANG (also known as the White Army) is a land force separate from the Ministry of Defense that is responsible for internal security, protecting the royal family, and external defense |
| Military service age and obligation | 17 is the legal minimum age for voluntary military service; no conscription; in 2018, women were allowed to serve as soldiers in the internal security services under certain requirements; in 2019, the Saudi Government agreed to allow women to join the armed forces and serve as soldiers up to the rank of non-commissioned officer (2021) |
| Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 7% of GDP (2020 est.) 8% of GDP (2019) 9.5% of GDP (2018) 11.1% of GDP (2017) 10.8% of GDP (2016) |
| Military and security service personnel strengths | the Saudi military forces have about 225,000 active troops; approximately 125,000 under the Ministry of Defense (75,000 Land Forces; 14,000 Naval Forces; 36,000 Air Force/Air Defense/Strategic Missile Forces) and approximately 100,000 in the Saudi Arabia National Guard (SANG) (2021) note: SANG also has an irregular force (Fowj), primarily Bedouin tribal volunteers, with a total strength of approximately 25,000 men |
| Military equipment inventories and acquisitions | the inventory of the Saudi military forces, including the SANG, includes a mix of mostly modern weapons systems from the US and Europe; since 2010, the US is the leading supplier of armaments, followed by France and the UK; Saudi Arabia is the world's largest arms importer (2020) |
| Military deployments | est. 2,500-5,000 Yemen (varies depending on operations, which continued into 2021) (2021) |
Source: CIA World Factbook
This page was last updated on September 18, 2021
