Morocco has become the fastest-growing buyer of weapons in North Africa, new data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) shows.
Between 2021 and 2025, Morocco’s arms imports went up by 12% compared with 2016–2020. Algeria, which used to be one of the biggest buyers in the region, saw its imports fall by 78%, allowing Morocco to move ahead. SIPRI says this drop doesn’t mean Algeria’s military got weaker, because some deals are secret and may not appear in the data.
Egypt is still Africa’s biggest arms buyer overall, but its imports dropped by 51% over the same period. Morocco’s steady increase reflects the country’s efforts to modernise its military and maintain balance in the region, especially given tensions with Algeria.
Most of Morocco’s weapons come from the United States (about 60%), followed by Israel (24%) and France (10%).
While overall arms imports in Africa fell by 41%, Morocco stood out as an exception. Around the world, arms transfers rose by 9.2%, the largest increase since 2011–2015, with Europe becoming the top importing region after its purchases more than tripled.
The US is still the largest arms exporter, supplying 42% of all weapons to 99 countries. Europe now takes more US exports than the Middle East. France is second, with exports rising 21%, mainly to India, Egypt, and Greece. Russia’s exports fell 64%, while Germany and Italy both increased exports. Israel overtook the UK for the first time to become the seventh-largest exporter.
In the Middle East, imports fell by 13%, but Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Kuwait remain big buyers. The US supplies over half of the region’s weapons. In the Americas, imports rose 12%, led by Brazil, which accounted for 60% of South America’s total.
