Qatar - Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values)

The latest value for Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values) in Qatar was 783,000,000 as of 2020. Over the past 52 years, the value for this indicator has fluctuated between 2,358,000,000 in 2019 and 2,000,000 in 1968.

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:

Year Value
1968 2,000,000
1969 3,000,000
1970 6,000,000
1971 16,000,000
1975 38,000,000
1976 26,000,000
1977 55,000,000
1978 16,000,000
1979 14,000,000
1980 55,000,000
1981 46,000,000
1982 128,000,000
1983 470,000,000
1984 328,000,000
1985 2,000,000
1986 2,000,000
1987 57,000,000
1988 91,000,000
1989 10,000,000
1990 5,000,000
1991 17,000,000
1992 64,000,000
1993 11,000,000
1994 10,000,000
1995 11,000,000
1996 201,000,000
1997 242,000,000
1998 300,000,000
1999 72,000,000
2000 14,000,000
2001 11,000,000
2002 11,000,000
2003 11,000,000
2007 27,000,000
2009 286,000,000
2010 30,000,000
2011 198,000,000
2012 317,000,000
2013 68,000,000
2014 55,000,000
2015 519,000,000
2016 905,000,000
2017 665,000,000
2018 620,000,000
2019 2,358,000,000
2020 783,000,000

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.

Classification

Topic: Public Sector Indicators

Sub-Topic: Defense & arms trade