The global arms trade, that’s what it’s really worth

The global arms trade does not experience a crisis, and in recent years, despite the complete epidemic, its value has increased. The reference data is that of the 2021 yearbook prepared by Sipri, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, and provides answers to ever more modern questions, such as: What is the value of arms import/export in the world and which countries buy and sell the most arms?

Regarding the global supply and procurement of weapons systems, Money.it explains, international trade remains at fairly high levels in the five-year period calculated by Sipri, 2016-2020.

The five largest arms exporters were the USA, Russia, France, Germany and China, which together accounted for 76% of the total volume of world exports.

In total, Canada, the USA and European countries together with Russia exported weapons for 86% of the sector’s global exports.

Is it Italy? Among the ten countries that sold the most weapons there is also Italy, as evidenced by the ranking of the most important exporting countries in 2016-2020 (with a percentage of the share of total exports):

1.Use, 37%

2- Russia, 20%

3- France 8.2%

4- Germany 5.5%

5- China 5.2%

6- United Kingdom 3.3%

7- Spain 3.2%

8- Israel 3.0%

9- South Korea 2.7%

10- Italy 2.2%

Who buys the most weapons? The 10 countries that bought the most weapons between 2016 and 2020 were (in percentage of total imports):

1- Saudi Arabia 11%

2- India 9.5%

3- Egypt 5.8%

4- Australia 5.1%

5- China 4.7%

6- Algeria 4.3%

7. South Korea 4.3%

8- Diameter 3.8%

9- United Arab Emirates 3.0%

10- Pakistan 2.7%

The total value of the global arms trade was estimated at $118 billion in 2019. The 25 largest arms and military services companies in the world generated $361 billion in profits that year.