Spain spent about 6.4 times as much as Morocco on its military in 2025, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said, showing the resource gap behind both countries' equipment programs.
SIPRI put Spain's spending at $40.2 billion, up 50% in real terms from 2024 and equal to 2.1% of gross domestic product. Morocco spent $6.3 billion, up 6.6%, and ranked as Africa's second-largest military spender.
SIPRI cited tensions involving Algeria and Western Sahara as one factor in Morocco's spending. It said Spain's increase followed a government plan supporting military procurement.
The first F-16 Block 72 built for Morocco is in testing following a flight, Lockheed Martin said Oct. 6. The company gave no delivery date. In 2019, the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) approved a possible sale of 25 such aircraft for an estimated $3.787 billion. It separately approved a proposed $985.2 million upgrade of 23 existing Moroccan F-16s. Those estimates are for potential transactions and do not establish final prices or deliveries.
DSCA also approved a possible $524.2 million sale of 18 HIMARS launchers to Morocco in 2023. The approval does not establish whether the launchers have been delivered.
Spain has contracted for 45 Eurofighters in orders of 20 and 25 aircraft to replace F-18s, Airbus said. At sea, Spain's navy took delivery of the S-81 Isaac Peral submarine in November 2023 and deployed it in 2025. In an Aug. 27, 2026, update, the navy said the S-82 Narciso Monturiol remained in sea trials.
The governments' personnel announcements do not provide a comparable count of their current forces. The Spanish Defence Ministry set a target of 127,500 active-duty personnel by 2029 and announced 11,913 recruitment places for 2026. Morocco's government scheduled its 2026 military-service intake to begin Sept. 1.
Under Airbus' stated timetable, deliveries from Spain's 20-aircraft Eurofighter order begin in 2026, followed by the 25-aircraft order in 2030.
