Normally, the reports from the Stockholm peace research institute SIPRI on global trends in the global arms trade are hardly surprising. But since the Ukraine war, arms deals have shifted significantly. In short, this means that Europe has almost doubled its arms imports. The biggest beneficiary is the USA. Russia’s arms exports have halved.
Peace researchers always compare five-year periods. In the years 2019 to 2023, the need for weapons was particularly great in European countries. Accordingly, European countries’ large arms imports increased by 94 percent compared to the previous five-year period. According to SIPRI, this trend will continue: “In recent years we have noticed a significantly greater need for air defense systems in Europe, which was triggered by Russia’s attack on Ukraine,” explained SIPRI expert Pieter Wezeman.
USA is number one
There is also a clear change in arms exports. The USA still leads the world. They are currently responsible for 42 percent of all arms exports (plus 17 percent) and export to more countries than ever before. Russia no longer follows in second place, but France. The country was able to increase its exports by 47 percent between 2019 and 2023. At the same time, Russia has slipped to third place due to significantly fewer exports.
“There has also been significant demand for weapons outside Europe and many countries have chosen to buy from France rather than Russia,” said SIPRI’s Wezeman. “This can have both political and technical reasons.”
China, for example, is now able to produce its own weapons of satisfactory quality and no longer needs Russian imports.
The armament of several of China’s neighboring countries is also noticeable: India (import increase of 4.7 percent), Pakistan (plus 43 percent), Japan (plus 155 percent) and South Korea (6.5 percent).
There is “little doubt” that the consistently high level of imports from Japan and other US allies in the region is driven above all by “concern regarding China’s ambitions,” says SIPRI researcher Siemon Wezeman, explaining this development.
Another detail is also surprising in this context: although global conflicts are increasing, the arms trade has declined by 3.3 percent in the past five years.
