France surpasses Russia as the world's second largest arms exporter

European countries have almost doubled their arms imports in the periods between 2014 and 2018, as well as between 2019 and 2023. Their purchases skyrocketed 94% during that period, according to a study by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). published this monday.

Much of this increase was due to arms transfers to Ukraine, which is still fighting the Russian invasion and, between 2022 and 2023, received 23% of imported weapons of the region in 2019-2023.

Two European countries –France and Italy– also have significantly increased their exports in the same period, finding willing buyers in Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

Perhaps surprisingly seeing the current situation in Europe and the rest of the world, with the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, the global volume of international arms transfers fell slightly by 3.3% between 2014-2018 and 2019-2023.

Who buys more weapons in Europe?

Europe's largest importer by far was Ukraine, which accounted for 23% of all European imports between 2019 and 2023. The next largest importers were United Kingdom (11% of all European imports) and Netherlands (9.0%).

55% of arms imports of European countries between 2019-2023 They came from the United States, whose exports to Europe increased by 35% compared to the previous time frame analyzed, 2014-2018. Other major weapons imported into Europe between 2019 and 2023 came from Asia, Oceania and the Middle East.

“There are many factors that determine the decisions of European NATO States when importing from the US, including the objective of maintaining transatlantic relations along with more technical, military and cost-related issues,” he explained in a statement. statement from SIPRI director Dan Smith.

“If transatlantic relations change in the coming years, the arms acquisition policies of European states could also change,” he continued. The next most supportive countries for arms exports after the United States were Germany (6.4%) and France (4.6%).

The rise of arms exports in France

The United States and France currently dominate global arms exports, as Washington has increased its exports by 17% between 2014-2018 and 2019-2023 and Paris by 47% in the same period.

The North American country was responsible for 42% of total world exports of weapons, delivering weapons to 107 states between 2019 and 2023, more than any other major exporter. The increase in French arms exports, on the other hand, was mainly due to the delivery of fighter aircraft to India, Qatar and Egypt.

For the first time, France moved ahead of Russia on the list of the world's largest arms exporters, taking second place, while Russia ranked third. And while French exports increased, Russian exports were reduced by half (-53%) in the same period. While Russia exported to 31 states in 2019, the number dropped to just 12 in 2023.

The majority of France's arms exports (42%) went to countries in Asia and Oceania, while another 34% went to Middle Eastern states.

The greatest receiptr of French arms exports was India, with almost 30% of all exports. The country was the world's leading arms importer between 2019-2023 – although its main supplier remains Russia, which accounted for 36% of all its imports.

“France is taking the opportunity of strong global demand to boost its arms industry through exports,” said Katarina Djokic, a researcher at SIPRI. “France has been especially successful selling its fighter jets outside of Europe.”

Other countries increased their arms exports in the last three years. In Italy, arms exports grew by 86%while in South Korea they increased by 12%. China saw its arms exports decline by 5.3%, Germany and the United Kingdom by 14%, Spain by 2.2% and Israel by 25%.

Who does Europe sell weapons to?

Together with the United States, Western Europe accounted for 72% of all arms exports in 2019-2023, while only Europe was responsible for around a third of world exports of weapons, including the large volumes that left the region.

A total of five European countries, excluding Russia, were among the world's 10 largest exporters, including France (2nd place), Germany (5th place), Italy (6th place), the United Kingdom (7th place) and Spain (8th place). The Netherlands is in 12th place, followed by Sweden (13th), Poland (14th), Switzerland (17th), Ukraine (18th), Norway (19th), Belgium (22nd) and Belarus (23rd).

Around 30% of international arms transfers went to the Middle East in 2019-2023, and the region's top three buyers were Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt. The majority of Middle Eastern states' arms imports were supplied by the United States (52%), followed by France (12%), Italy (10%) and Germany (7.1%).

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The largest importers in 2019-2023 were India, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, followed by Ukraine, which has received significant arms transfers from more than 30 countries between 2022 and 2023.

The United States and Germany accounted, respectively, for 69% and 30% of Israel's arms imports.which is currently waging a deadly war against Hamas in Gaza that has killed more than 30,000 people, most of them civilians.