Dhe global arms trade has recently declined somewhat, but overall remains at a very high level. The volume of trade fell by 4.6 percent in the period from 2017 to 2021 compared to the five years before, the peace research institute Sipri in Stockholm announced on Monday. However, compared to the years 2007 to 2011, this is an increase of 3.9 percent.
Even before the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, the Stockholm peace researchers observed a trend towards increasing arms imports to Europe. According to this, imports there rose by 19 percent between 2017 and 2021 compared to the five years before – that was the highest increase worldwide on average. The massive deterioration in relations between most European countries and Russia was at least in part a driver for the arms purchases, the report said.
The United States and France increased their arms exports significantly, while China, Russia and Germany sold fewer arms abroad. Nevertheless, the three countries are still among the world’s largest arms exporters. With a world market share of 39 percent, America remains the clear leader. Between 2017 and 2021, the country’s arms exports grew by 14 percent compared to the previous five-year period. Meanwhile, German exports fell by 19 percent. With a world market share of 4.5 percent, Germany still occupies fifth place behind the United States, Russia, France and China.
According to Sipri, the “Top 5” account for 77 percent of all global arms deliveries over the past five years. The main buyers were Asia-Oceania with a global share of 43 percent, the countries in the Middle East (32 percent) and Europe (13 percent). The top five arms importers were India, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Australia and China.
Sipri researcher Pieter Wezeman sees major regional differences. For example, while South America’s arms imports are at their lowest level in 50 years, increasing or persistently high arms imports to Europe, East Asia, Oceania and the Middle East are contributing to a worrying build-up. In Europe, the UK (up 74 percent), Norway (up 343 percent) and the Netherlands (up 116 percent) imported the most weapons.
The peace researchers assume that other European countries will significantly increase their arms imports in the next ten years. Recently there have been extensive orders for large arms, especially for American fighter jets.
Few arms imports from Ukraine
Ukrainian arms imports, on the other hand, have been very limited at a global level of 0.1 percent over the past five years. The authors attribute this in part to limited financial resources and the fact that Ukraine has its own arms manufacturing capabilities and arsenals. By February this year, several of the largest arms-exporting countries had restricted supplies to Ukraine, the report said. It was feared that such transfers could contribute to escalation.
Russian exports collapsed by 26 percent between 2017 and 2021. The peace researchers see lower exports to India and Vietnam as the main reason. Nevertheless, as the second largest arms exporter, Russia holds a world market share of 19 percent, followed by France (11 percent) and China (4.6 percent).