Arms exports (SIPRI trend indicator values) - Country Ranking

Definition: Arms transfers cover the supply of military weapons through sales, aid, gifts, and those made through manufacturing licenses. Data cover major conventional weapons such as aircraft, armored vehicles, artillery, radar systems, missiles, and ships designed for military use. Excluded are transfers of other military equipment such as small arms and light weapons, trucks, small artillery, ammunition, support equipment, technology transfers, and other services. Figures are SIPRI Trend Indicator Values (TIVs) expressed in US$ m. at constant (1990) prices. A '0' indicates that the value of deliveries is less than US$0.5m

Source: Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Arms Transfers Programme (http://portal.sipri.org/publications/pages/transfer/splash).

See also: Thematic map, Time series comparison

Find indicator:
Rank Country Value Year
1 United States 9,372,000,000.00 2020
2 Russia 3,203,000,000.00 2020
3 France 1,995,000,000.00 2020
4 Germany 1,232,000,000.00 2020
5 Spain 1,201,000,000.00 2020
6 Korea 827,000,000.00 2020
7 Italy 806,000,000.00 2020
8 China 760,000,000.00 2020
9 Netherlands 488,000,000.00 2020
10 United Kingdom 429,000,000.00 2020
11 Australia 396,000,000.00 2020
12 Israel 345,000,000.00 2020
13 Sweden 286,000,000.00 2020
14 Romania 216,000,000.00 2013
15 Czech Republic 213,000,000.00 1992
16 Canada 200,000,000.00 2020
17 United Arab Emirates 191,000,000.00 2020
18 Switzerland 179,000,000.00 2020
19 Brazil 170,000,000.00 2020
20 India 151,000,000.00 2020
21 Turkey 141,000,000.00 2020
22 Ukraine 115,000,000.00 2020
23 Kuwait 95,000,000.00 1998
24 Norway 72,000,000.00 2020
25 Uzbekistan 68,000,000.00 2016
26 Lithuania 60,000,000.00 2018
27 Belgium 53,000,000.00 2020
28 Yemen 51,000,000.00 1986
29 Lebanon 48,000,000.00 2002
29 Singapore 48,000,000.00 2016
31 Portugal 46,000,000.00 2020
32 Hungary 41,000,000.00 2013
33 Venezuela 40,000,000.00 2009
34 South Africa 37,000,000.00 2020
35 Cyprus 36,000,000.00 1996
36 Serbia 33,000,000.00 2020
37 Belarus 23,000,000.00 2020
38 Dem. Rep. Congo 22,000,000.00 1997
39 Iraq 20,000,000.00 1989
39 Syrian Arab Republic 20,000,000.00 2010
39 Chad 20,000,000.00 1987
39 Iran 20,000,000.00 2017
43 Ghana 19,000,000.00 2005
44 Greece 17,000,000.00 2020
44 Ethiopia 17,000,000.00 1997
46 Malaysia 15,000,000.00 2014
47 Ireland 14,000,000.00 2014
47 Vietnam 14,000,000.00 2006
49 Jordan 13,000,000.00 2020
49 Poland 13,000,000.00 2020
51 Finland 12,000,000.00 2020
51 Brunei 12,000,000.00 2016
53 Qatar 11,000,000.00 2019
53 Moldova 11,000,000.00 2011
53 Sudan 11,000,000.00 2013
56 Fiji 10,000,000.00 1984
56 Bulgaria 10,000,000.00 2019
58 Austria 9,000,000.00 2020
58 Indonesia 9,000,000.00 2019
58 Latvia 9,000,000.00 1994
61 Cuba 8,000,000.00 1980
61 Sri Lanka 8,000,000.00 1998
63 Oman 7,000,000.00 2017
63 Georgia 7,000,000.00 2017
65 Kazakhstan 6,000,000.00 2006
65 Morocco 6,000,000.00 1978
65 New Zealand 6,000,000.00 2018
68 Peru 5,000,000.00 2004
68 Iceland 5,000,000.00 1993
68 Saudi Arabia 5,000,000.00 2016
68 Malta 5,000,000.00 2015
68 Nicaragua 5,000,000.00 1995
68 Kyrgyz Republic 5,000,000.00 2017
74 Denmark 4,000,000.00 2019
74 Armenia 4,000,000.00 2006
74 Colombia 4,000,000.00 2020
74 Philippines 4,000,000.00 2007
74 Dominican Republic 4,000,000.00 2017
74 Uganda 4,000,000.00 2016
74 Zimbabwe 4,000,000.00 2001
81 Senegal 3,000,000.00 1976
81 Japan 3,000,000.00 2018
81 Nigeria 3,000,000.00 1990
81 Bosnia and Herzegovina 3,000,000.00 2013
81 Croatia 3,000,000.00 2017
86 Kenya 2,000,000.00 1993
86 Guyana 2,000,000.00 1976
86 Ecuador 2,000,000.00 2018
86 Egypt 2,000,000.00 2019
86 Bangladesh 2,000,000.00 1984
86 Angola 2,000,000.00 2002
86 Bahrain 2,000,000.00 2001
86 Thailand 2,000,000.00 2017
86 Zambia 2,000,000.00 1990
95 El Salvador 1,000,000.00 1991
95 Dem. People's Rep. Korea 1,000,000.00 2014
95 Panama 1,000,000.00 2019
95 Mozambique 1,000,000.00 1977
95 Cambodia 1,000,000.00 2000
95 Seychelles 1,000,000.00 1995
95 Côte d'Ivoire 1,000,000.00 2018
95 Uruguay 1,000,000.00 2000
95 Malawi 1,000,000.00 2000
95 Slovak Republic 1,000,000.00 2019
95 Pakistan 1,000,000.00 2019
95 Mexico 1,000,000.00 2019
95 Afghanistan 1,000,000.00 1992
95 Argentina 1,000,000.00 2011
95 Gabon 1,000,000.00 1973
110 Eritrea 0.00 2006
110 Estonia 0.00 2015
110 Algeria 0.00 2016
110 Costa Rica 0.00 2008
110 Libya 0.00 2011
110 Slovenia 0.00 2016
110 Albania 0.00 2011
110 The Bahamas 0.00 2015
110 Chile 0.00 2018
110 Montenegro 0.00 2017
110 Luxembourg 0.00 2007
110 Niger 0.00 1973

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Development Relevance: Although national defense is an important function of government and security from external threats that contributes to economic development, high military expenditures for defense or civil conflicts burden the economy and may impede growth. Data on military expenditures are a rough indicator of the portion of national resources used for military activities and of the burden on the economy. Comparisons of military spending among countries should take into account the many factors that influence perceptions of vulnerability and risk, including historical and cultural traditions, the length of borders that need defending, the quality of relations with neighbors, and the role of the armed forces in the body politic.

Limitations and Exceptions: SIPRI calculates the volume of transfers to, from and between all parties using the TIV and the number of weapon systems or subsystems delivered in a given year. This data is intended to provide a common unit to allow the measurement if trends in the flow of arms to particular countries and regions over time. Therefore, the main priority is to ensure that the TIV system remains consistent over time, and that any changes introduced are backdated. SIPRI TIV figures do not represent sales prices for arms transfers. They should therefore not be directly compared with gross domestic product (GDP), military expenditure, sales values or the financial value of export licences in an attempt to measure the economic burden of arms imports or the economic benefits of exports. They are best used as the raw data for calculating trends in international arms transfers over periods of time, global percentages for suppliers and recipients, and percentages for the volume of transfers to or from particular states.

Original Source Notes: SIPRI statistical data on arms transfers relates to actual deliveries of major conventional weapons. To permit comparison between the data on such deliveries of different weapons and to identify general trends, SIPRI has developed a unique system to measu

Statistical Concept and Methodology: Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)'s Arms Transfers Program collects data on arms transfers from open sources. Since publicly available information is inadequate for tracking all weapons and other military equipment, SIPRI covers only what it terms major conventional weapons. Data cover the supply of weapons through sales, aid, gifts, and manufacturing licenses; therefore the term arms transfers rather than arms trade is used. SIPRI data also cover weapons supplied to or from rebel forces in an armed conflict as well as arms deliveries for which neither the supplier nor the recipient can be identified with acceptable certainty; these data are available in SIPRI's database. Data cover major conventional weapons such as aircraft, armored vehicles, artillery, radar systems and other sensors, missiles, and ships designed for military use as well as some major components such as turrets for armored vehicles and engines. Excluded are other military equipment such as most small arms and light weapons, trucks, small artillery, ammunition, support equipment, technology transfers, and other services.

Aggregation method: Sum

Base Period: 1990

Periodicity: Annual

General Comments: Data for some countries are based on partial or uncertain data or rough estimates.