According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, the United States remains the world’s largest arms exporter responsible for 38.6 percent of international arms sales between 2017 and 2021, up from 32.2 percent between 2012 and 2016. During the most recent time span, the country supplied arms to more than 100 countries.
Russia remains in second position, but its share has been decreasing. Between 2017 and 2021, the country was responsible for 18.6 percent of global arms exports. Between 2012 and 2016, it had been 24.1 percent.
Russia’s biggest customer is India, followed by China, but the latter country has been buying fewer Russian arms in the past. Sales to Algeria and Egypt also declined.
France continued to grow its arms exports, while Germany’s relative importance in the global arms market shrunk. The country was overtaken as the fourth-biggest exporter by China, which revived international sales. Italy and South Korea also rose in the ranking compared to last year. Italy’s biggest export partner is Egypt, but sales in 2021 rose most to Qatar, Turkey and Kuwait. In the case of South Korea, a major sale to Indonesia upped the country’s export figure.
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