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Among the top five countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) in terms of active military personnel, Iran, which topped the list, was the only non-Arab nation. As of 2026, Iran employed about ** military personnel. Moreover, Saudi Arabia had the -largest number of active military personnel and was the only Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) country to make the top ten.  Among African countries, Egypt and Algeria topped the list, with *** and *** thousand active personnel, respectively. 

Military strength

Due to their small native populations, many countries in the GCC often rely on foreign nationals to fill in force roles in the military. Equipment is often directly correlated to the number of personnel in service. When looking at the number of tanks among armies in the MENA region, there is a clear correlation with each army's level of active personnel. Likewise, another key indicator of military strength is the number of military aircraft MENA countries have in operation. Israel is one of the few countries in the region that has a thriving defense export industry due to investments in R&D and local manufacturing. 

Increased defense spending

In recent years, military spending among MENA countries has increased, with GCC countries prioritizing defense and furthering cooperation with foreign manufacturers. Saudi Arabia had the highest military spending in the region as of 2025. Israel ranked second with **** billion U.S. dollars of military spending that year. Driven by the recent conflicts in the Middle East, mainly starting from October 2023, Israel's military spending has increased significantly in the past few years.