Arms purchases in Europe increase

European countries bought 19% more weapons in the years leading up to 2021 than in the five years before that, although global purchases fell by 4.6%, according to a report released on Monday.

The European countries that imported the most weapons were Great Britain, Norway and the Netherlands, according to the study of the Stockholm Institute for Peace Studies (known by its acronym in English SIPRI).

There are other European countries that are likely to increase their arms imports significantly in the next decade as they have shipped orders, notably US fighter jets.

“The severe deterioration of relations between most European countries and Russia was an important factor in the growth of arms imports, especially for states that cannot meet all their needs through their domestic industries.”, explained Pieter D. Wezeman, a researcher at the SIPRI.

Arms exports from the main exporter (the United States) increased by 14%, thereby increasing that country’s market share from 32% to 39%. That includes a 106% increase in weapons exported to Saudi Arabia.

Russian exports fell by 26% to take a 19% share of the world market. That, according to SIPRI, was almost entirely due to a decline in arms shipments Russia to India already Vietnamthough he noted that a number of Russian arms shipments to India are already scheduled for years to come.

France It is the world’s third largest arms exporter and its sales increased by nearly 60% in the five years to 2021, SIPRI said.

The fourth largest arms exporter was Chinawhose sales decreased by 31%, and the fifth largest was Germany whose sales decreased by 19%.

Globally, “while there were some positive indicators, such as the fact that arms imports between South American countries fell to their lowest level in 50 years, large arms imports by places like Europe, East Asia, Oceania and the Middle East contributed to a worrying trendWezeman said.