Switzerland - Arms exports (SIPRI trend indicator values)

The latest value for Arms exports (SIPRI trend indicator values) in Switzerland was 179,000,000 as of 2020. Over the past 60 years, the value for this indicator has fluctuated between 530,000,000 in 1962 and 18,000,000 in 1970.

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
1960 442,000,000
1961 500,000,000
1962 530,000,000
1963 337,000,000
1964 379,000,000
1965 484,000,000
1966 367,000,000
1967 261,000,000
1968 91,000,000
1969 104,000,000
1970 18,000,000
1971 42,000,000
1972 34,000,000
1973 54,000,000
1974 89,000,000
1975 395,000,000
1976 480,000,000
1977 260,000,000
1978 196,000,000
1979 454,000,000
1980 492,000,000
1981 523,000,000
1982 409,000,000
1983 331,000,000
1984 528,000,000
1985 346,000,000
1986 345,000,000
1987 311,000,000
1988 370,000,000
1989 318,000,000
1990 467,000,000
1991 496,000,000
1992 451,000,000
1993 234,000,000
1994 176,000,000
1995 146,000,000
1996 196,000,000
1997 125,000,000
1998 214,000,000
1999 283,000,000
2000 188,000,000
2001 222,000,000
2002 178,000,000
2003 199,000,000
2004 272,000,000
2005 267,000,000
2006 311,000,000
2007 318,000,000
2008 473,000,000
2009 242,000,000
2010 264,000,000
2011 340,000,000
2012 242,000,000
2013 194,000,000
2014 343,000,000
2015 479,000,000
2016 215,000,000
2017 173,000,000
2018 240,000,000
2019 226,000,000
2020 179,000,000

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