Saudi is becoming a powerful Muslim country

Saudi Arabia is quickly becoming the largest Muslim country in the world. According to World Population Review, there are about 50 Muslim countries in the world. But, leaving all these behind, Saudi is moving ahead in the fields ranging from economy to security. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has left for America. During the three-day formal visit, Saudi can make deals with America on important defence, investment and technology, which is expected to further increase its power.

Where Iran kept dreaming of becoming a nuclear power. At the same time, after making an agreement with Pakistan, Saudi has also achieved nuclear guarantee. If seen in terms of population, Saudi Arabia is not the country with the largest Muslim population. Indonesia has more Muslim population than Saudi. But, there are many factors on which after working, Saudi has now strengthened its credibility in many areas.

strong economy

Saudi Arabia’s GDP is increasing day by day. The oil dominated country is working hard to increase its growth not only in oil but also in tourism and other sectors. Saudi is also working hard on tourism under Vision 2030.

Saudi’s GDP will be $1.27 trillion in the year 2025. Türkiye’s is $1.4 trillion. Iran’s GDP is $436.91 billion, whereas Pakistan’s GDP is $373.07 billion.

How did GDP increase?

There are many reasons for Saudi Arabia’s GDP growth, including oil, economic reforms and diversification policies.

1. Increase in oil production and export- Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest oil producing and exporting country. Increase in oil prices directly increases GDP. Oil income increases when global demand increases, which boosts the economy.
2. Vision 2030 Plan- Saudi government launched Vision 2030 for economic diversification. Under this scheme, investment increased in sectors like tourism, infrastructure, entertainment and technology. Special economic zones and companies were given incentives to attract foreign investment.
3. Infrastructure and construction- Investment in construction of metros, airports, ports and big cities. Special projects like NEOM Smart City, Red Sea Tourism Project are increasing the GDP.
4. International investment and trade- Large trade and investment agreements with countries like America, China and Europe. Foreign capital came due to economic reforms and liberalization.

Religious values

Saudi Arabia also plays an important role religiously. Every year lakhs of people come to the country to perform Hajj and Umrah. Muslims all over the world aspire to visit Saudi once for pilgrimage.

According to Al-Jazeera, a government spokesperson informed that more than 1.5 million foreign pilgrims will arrive in Saudi Arabia for Hajj in the year 2025. According to alarabiya, Saudi Arabia’s Hajj and Umrah Minister Tawfiq al-Rabiya said on Monday that 18.5 million (more than 1 crore 85 lakh) pilgrims will perform Hajj and Umrah in 2024.

When people from all over the world come to Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj and Umrah, Saudi Arabia benefits a lot from this. According to the 2024 report of Statista, Hajj and Umrah generate revenue of about 12 billion dollars every year.

Along with this, due to the benefits of pilgrimage, under the Saudi Vision 2030 plan, it wants to increase the number of religious tourists for both Hajj and Umrah to 30 million (30 million) by 2030.

strength in defense sector

The defense sector of Saudi Arabia has also become stronger than before. Trump has approved the delivery of F-35 jets to Saudi. Donald Trump recently said that we will sell F-35 to Saudi. Also, after the recent defense agreement with Pakistan, Saudi has now come under nuclear guarantee.

Along with this, Saudi is also strengthening its army. According to the Global Firepower 2025 report, Saudi Arabia is ranked 24th in the list of 145 military powers in the world.

Saudi Arabia has 2.57 lakh active soldiers. Apart from this, there are also 1.5 lakh paramilitary soldiers. Saudi’s biggest strength is its air force. Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) has more than a thousand aircraft. Among these, the most important are F-15E Strike Eagle taken from America, Tornado IDS of Britain and Eurofighter Typhoon of Europe.

Apart from fighter jets, Saudi has more than 185 helicopters. Saudi army has more than 22,860 weapons. The Navy has 62 warships.

How much was spent on the army?

According to Arab News, Saudi’s military expenditure in 2024 will be $75.8 billion, which is 3.1 percent of the global defense expenditure.

5 countries with highest military expenditure:

1. America 997 billion dollars
2. China 314 billion dollars
3. Russia $149 billion (huge increase of 38%)
4. Germany $88.5 billion
5. India 86.1 billion dollars

These five countries together account for 60% of the world’s total military expenditure. The military budget of the Middle East region was $243 billion in 2024, which is 15% more than 2023. Saudi Arabia spent $80.3 billion — the most in the Middle East and 7th in the world.