Ukraine has emerged as the world’s largest importer of major arms in the period from 2020 to 2024, an increase compared to the period from 2015 to 2019, according to data from Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
Global arms transfer volumes have maintained a consistent level, mirroring figures from the periods of 2015-2019 and 2010-2014, marking an 18% rise from the data recorded in 2005-2009.
This stability is attributed to a surge in arms imports within Europe and the Americas, which balanced out reductions observed across various other regions.
The European arms imports saw a 155% increase between the two periods and the surge is credited to be response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and uncertainties regarding the future of US foreign policy.
Meanwhile, the US expanded its share of global arms exports to 43%, while Russia experienced a 64% decline in its exports.
SIPRI Arms Transfers Programme director Mathew George said: “The new arms transfers figures clearly reflect the rearmament taking place among states in Europe in response to the threat from Russia.
“However; some major arms importers, including Saudi Arabia, India and China, saw large declines in import volumes for a variety of reasons, despite high threat perceptions in their regions.”
The top ten arms exporters remained unchanged, although Russia dropped to third place with 7.8% of global exports, overtaken by France with 9.6%. Italy climbed from tenth to sixth place, now accounting for 4.8% of exports.
Ukraine’s imports constituted 8.8% of the global total, with the majority of arms supplied by the US (45%), followed by Germany (12%) and Poland (11%). European Nato members more than doubled their arms imports, showing a 105% increase from 2015-2019 to 2020-2024.
US arms exports rose by 21% during the same period, and the country supplied arms to 107 states. In contrast, Russia’s exports plummeted before its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, with export volumes in 2020 and 2021 being much lower than any year in the preceding two decades.
France has now become the second-largest arms supplier globally, with a 187% increase in exports to other European countries. China maintained its position as the fourth-largest exporter, holding 5.9% of the market share.
The share of global arms transfers to Asia and Oceania decreased from 41% to 33%, with a 21% drop in imports to the region.
China’s imports fell by 64%, causing it to drop out of the top ten importers for the first time since the period from 1990 to 1994. India, Pakistan, Japan, and Australia remain among the top ten importers, with India ranking second globally.
In the Middle East, arms imports decreased by 20%, but four countries from the region—Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Kuwait—were among the top ten global importers.
Notably, Qatar rose to become the third-largest importer. Saudi Arabia’s imports fell by 41%, while Israel’s imports remained stable.
The report states that West Africa has seen a sharp rise in arms transfers over the past 15 years due to deteriorating security conditions. The region’s combined imports nearly doubled, with Nigeria accounting for the largest share (34%) in West Africa from 2020 to 2024.
SIPRI noted in December 2024, that conflicts and rising tensions drove sales of arms and military services by the world’s 100 largest companies to $632bn in 2023.
