SIPRI: The war in Ukraine doubled the import of weapons to Europe

The war in Ukraine doubled the import of weapons in Europe, according to the report published yesterday by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), which shows that in the period 2019-2023 the import of military equipment and weapons in Europe increased by 94% compared with the period 2014-2018. Ukraine became the largest European importer of arms in the period 2019-2023 and the fourth largest in the world, after 30 countries supplied arms to Ukraine after 24 February 2022. According to an interactive map, Romania is among the European states that doubled its arms imports in the period 2019-2023, the import of armaments from our country in the last five years representing 0.6% of global imports of important combat equipment.

About 55% of combat equipment and military equipment purchased by European states in the period 2019-2023 was provided by the US, up 20% compared to the period 2014-2018. Germany and France are also in the top three arms suppliers to European states, which represented 6.4% and 4.6% of imports, respectively.

Regarding this aspect, Dan Smith, director of SIPRI, said: "More than half of the arms imports by European states come from the US, while Europe is responsible for about a third of global arms exports, (.. .) which reflects the strong military-industrial capacity of Europe. Many factors influence European NATO states' decisions to import from the US, including the goal of maintaining transatlantic relations alongside more technical, military and cost considerations. If transatlantic relations change in the coming years, the arms procurement policies of European states could also be changed."

Pieter Wezeman, senior researcher at SIPRI, said: "With many high-value weapons on order - including nearly 800 fighter jets and helicopter gunships - European arms imports are likely to remain high. In the past two years, we have also seen much greater demand for air defense systems in Europe, spurred by Russia's missile campaign against Ukraine."

During this time, the United States increased its arms exports by 17%, the Russian Federation's arms exports halved, while France became the second largest arms exporter globally. Practically, US arms represent 42% of transactions in the field globally, with US arms reaching 107 countries in the world. In second place in terms of arms exports is France, with 30% of the combat equipment exported by this country destined for India.

In contrast, Russian arms exports fell by 53% between 2019-2023 compared to 2014-2018. The cited report shows that the decline in Russian arms exports is dramatic over the past five years, if we consider that the Russian Federation exported combat equipment to 31 countries in 2019 and to only 12 countries in 2023. Countries in Asia and Oceania have received 68% of total Russian arms exports, with India accounting for 34% and China 21%.

In terms of the top 10 arms exporters in the world, after the USA, France and Russia, there is Italy, which saw an 86% boom in exports, South Korea (+12%), the other five states recording decreases in of this type of transaction compared to the period 2014-2018: China (-5.3%), Germany (-14%), Great Britain (-14%), Spain (-3.3%) and Israel (-25%) .

The SIPRI report also shows that the majority of arms deals go to Asia and that India is the world's largest importer of arms, with a 4.7% increase in the number of such imports over the past five years. India's neighbors are not far behind, with Pakistan increasing its arms imports by 43% over the same period. In Asia, Japan increased its arms imports by 155%, while South Korea increased its imports by only 6.5%.

The cited document states that only three Middle Eastern states were among the top 10 importers in the period 2019-2023: Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt. Saudi Arabia was the world's second largest arms importer during the period, receiving 8.4% of global arms imports, while Qatar increased its arms imports almost fourfold (+396%) compared to the period 2014-2018. Egypt was the world's seventh largest arms importer from 2019 to 2023, when it acquired more than 20 fighter jets and 10 warships. The majority of arms imports by Middle Eastern states were provided by the US (52%), followed by France (12%), Italy (10%) and Germany (7.1%).

SIPRI researcher Zain Hussain said: "Despite a general decline in arms imports in the Middle East, they remain high in some states, largely due to regional conflicts and tensions. Major weapons imported over the past 10 years have been widely used in conflicts in the region, including in Gaza, Lebanon and Yemen. Some states in the Gulf region have imported large quantities of arms it's to use them against the Houthi rebels in Yemen and to counter Iranian influence."

The cited document also shows that Africa is the continent where in the last five years the import of arms has halved, experiencing a decrease of 52%, mainly due to the reduction of imports by Algeria and Morocco.