Europe has become the world's largest arms importing region in the past 5 years, according to data released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). This strong increase occurred as many European governments reacted to the threat from Russia and concerns about the level of US security commitments.
According to the report, European countries have more than tripled their arms imports in the period 2021-2025 compared to the period 2016-2020. Large purchases are aimed at supporting Ukraine in the conflict with Russia, while helping European countries rebuild military capabilities after decades of limited investment.
Mr. Mathew George, Director of the SIPRI Arms Transfer Program, said that the sharp increase in the flow of weapons into Europe has contributed to pushing the total global arms transfer volume to nearly 10%.
The report shows that Europe accounts for 33% of total global arms imports, a sharp increase compared to 12% in the previous 5 years. Despite increasing domestic production, many European countries continue to buy more weapons from the US, especially fighter jets and long-range air defense systems.
In the opposite direction, arms imports from Middle Eastern countries decreased by 13%. However, Saudi Arabia and Qatar are still in the group of four countries that buy the most weapons in the world. Mr. Pieter Wezeman, senior researcher at SIPRI, said that the decrease mainly reflects that large orders from Saudi Arabia in the previous period are still being integrated.
Mr. Wezeman said that even before the US and Israel launched recent attacks on Iran, Middle Eastern countries have placed many new arms orders that have not been fully reflected in current data. The ongoing conflict is likely to increase arms procurement in the region, especially air defense and anti-missile systems.
According to him, countries will first replace used equipment, and at the same time find ways to strengthen defense capabilities in the future.
On the supplier side, the US continues to consolidate its leading position in the global arms export market. The US market share increased to 42%, compared to 36% previously. France ranked second with 9.8% of total world arms exports.
Meanwhile, Russia's market share fell sharply to 6.8%, compared to 21% after Russia launched a military campaign in Ukraine in 2022.
European countries combined account for about 28% of the global arms export market share, 4 times higher than Russia and 5 times higher than China.
