The trade fair for members of authorities with security tasks and armed forces, February 2024, Nuremberg. picture alliance / Panama Pictures | Dwi Anoraganinrum
Weapons imports in Europe have increased by 94 percent in five years, with Ukraine as the largest importer, according to a report.
Russia’s arms exports have fallen by 53 percent, while the US has increased its exports by 17 percent.
Germany remains one of the top five export countries and could continue to rise in the coming years.
The Russian war of aggression against Ukraine has had a significant impact on the global arms market: arms imports in Europe have almost doubled within five years. This emerges from a report published by the Stockholm peace research institute Sipri on Monday. Between 2019 and 2023, imports of defense equipment such as fighter jets, tanks and submarines into Europe increased by around 94 percent compared to 2014 to 2018. Ukraine was the largest importer in Europe, accounting for 23 percent of the region’s total arms imports. Germany remained one of the top five export countries worldwide.
“Russia will continue to pose a massive threat in the future. “We can therefore definitely assume that European countries will continue to place new orders and receive the significant quantities of weapons that they have already ordered in recent years,” said Sipri researcher Pieter Wezeman to the German Press Agency. “It is therefore to be expected that the level of deliveries and arms imports by European countries will continue to rise in the coming years.” Overall, the global arms transfer of all countries fell slightly by 3.3 percent.
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Russia is losing export power – France is the second largest arms exporter in the world
For the first time in decades, Russia is no longer one of the two largest arms suppliers. While the USA at the top increased its arms exports by a further 17 percent, deliveries from Russia fell by more than half (53 percent). Russia, which had previously been in second place, slipped just behind France, which increased its export volume by 47 percent.
“I think one of the biggest surprises is still that the decline in Russian arms sales was even faster than expected,” Wezeman said of the development. However, this should be viewed with caution, as there are still some Russian transactions outstanding – if they can be fulfilled on time or even produced at all. Still, it is remarkable to see that Russia has fallen so far and so quickly, which in turn leads to the West’s dominant role in arming the world, he said.
While Russia exported weapons to 31 countries in 2019, last year it was only twelve. With a share of eleven percent of global export volume, Russia ranks third behind France, although this share is ten percentage points lower than in the previous comparable period. The three largest buyers of Russian weapons are India, China and Egypt.
The USA remained the undisputed number one exporter: in the period from 2019 to 2023, it supplied 107 countries. That is more than in any previous five-year period and far more than any other arms exporter. A full 42 percent of global arms deliveries come from major suppliers – a global increase of eight percentage points compared to the previous comparable period. Followed by France, Russia, China and Germany in fifth place among global arms suppliers – together they accounted for around 75 percent of total arms exports.
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Ukraine is by far the largest arms importer in the world
After the Russian invasion in February 2022, Ukraine received large amounts of military equipment from at least 30 countries, mainly in the form of military aid. Consequently, in 2023, Ukraine was by far the world‘s largest arms importer. The USA was the leader, supplying 39 percent of Ukraine’s arms imports, followed by Germany (14 percent) and Poland (13 percent). Over the entire period from 2019 to 2023, Ukraine ranked fourth among global arms importers, just behind India, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
Sipri’s data refers to the volume of arms shipments, not their financial value. Since the volume can fluctuate greatly from year to year due to the order situation, the independent institute usually focuses on five-year periods instead of individual years. However, they made an exception for Ukraine due to the war situation.
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Germany remains an important arms supplier to Ukraine and Israel
Germany remains one of the “Big Five” arms industry. Within the five-year period, German arms exports fell by 14 percent compared to 2014 to 2018. The share of German arms exports accounted for 5.6 percent of the global total volume. Germany was one of Israel’s largest suppliers, accounting for 30 percent of the country’s arms imports, after the USA (69 percent). Germany is also one of the two largest countries of origin for Ukraine’s arms imports.
“We don’t normally talk about year-on-year comparisons, but it is remarkable to see that last year in particular, German arms exports reached an annual peak that is significantly higher than in previous years,” noted researcher Wezeman. This could indicate that German arms exports will continue to increase in the coming years.
AA/dpa