The combined exports of 10 countries that export the most weapons in the world account for more than 90% of all weapons exports in the world.
The arms industry is a multi-billion dollar business that spans the globe, and one would be hard-pressed to find a country that isn’t involved in it, either as a buyer or a seller (and often both). For a while, after the Cold War, it seemed that the arms race would soon become a thing of the past. Unfortunately, the volume of weapons exports is higher than ever, which doesn’t bode well for the world peace since nations that spend fortunes on their new toys tend to have an itchy trigger finger. It still hasn’t reached the historical high watermark of 4% of global GDP in 1990, but with $1.8 trillion of weapon deals in 2012, it isn’t that far behind.
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In order to fully gauge each country’s position on the list, we took data from multiple years, more precisely a period from 2000 to 2015. The reasoning behind this is that single year exports can be misleading since a single large deal (which often weighs hundreds of millions of dollars) can easily move a country up or down a few places, thus skewing the results.
The political and geographical structure of top 10 weapons exporters is very interesting. Out of 10, seven are NATO members. Seven countries are from Europe, two from Asia and one from North America. For the most part, this picture hasn’t changed in the last 100 years or so, ever since weapon proliferation became a major business. Countries with the strongest industrial base tend to not only be the biggest arms dealers, but the owners of the most technologically advanced military weapons as well.
Data came for the SIPRI (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute). Their database is the most comprehensive record of arms deals worldwide, going back to 1950. They calculate the value of exports by using Trend Indicator Values (TIV), basically, a production cost of weapons and equipment included in a deal expressed in millions of 1990 US dollars. You can read more about SIPRI methodology here.
The good thing about TIV is that it is normalizing data across the field and providing an absolute value. The bad thing is that it isn’t really comparable to GDP or other economic tools, so it can’t be used to compare investments in the defense sector. For our purpose, though, determining 10 countries that export the most weapons in the world, it is perfect.
10. The Netherlands
Total TIV 2000 – 2015: 8,277
Seeing the Netherlands on this list may come as a surprise since the Dutch aren’t usually associated with weapons sales. Despite their love for botany and flowers, it turned out that the Dutch have a highly developed defense industry and they profit nicely from it. However, in a surprising move, the Dutch decided to put their money where their mouth is and ban arms exports to Saudi Arabia in 2016, over concerns of Kingdom’s human rights record. They remain the only country on our list that has done that; other major arms dealing countries decided to limit their protests to rhetoric only.
9. Israel
Total TIV 2000 – 2015: 8,436
In 1967, in the midst of tensions leading to the Six-day War, France imposed an arms embargo on Middle East region. Although intended as a neutral measure, it mostly hurt the Israelis, with the bulk of their air force consisting of French airplanes. The inability to supply spare parts for their Mirage III fighter jets was one of the reasons behind Israel’s decision to create a self-sustaining military industry. It took a while before it transitioned from a supplier of the IDF weaponry to the one of the leading global weapons exporters, but Israel weapons today are trusted and used worldwide. In 2015, their biggest customers were European countries, with a considerable share (over $1 billion) going to North America.
8. Spain
Total TIV 2000 – 2015: 8,627
Although the majority of Spain weapons exports in 2015 went to their NATO partners, including Turkey, the largest order came from Saudi Arabia. The government in Riyadh bought two Airbus A330-200 MRTT aerial refueling tankers, together with spare parts for its Air Force, various ammunition and remote control turrets. Spanish artillery ammunition also found its way to Iraqi army depots, while $100 million worth of transport planes and spare parts were sold to Egypt.
7. Italy
Total TIV 2000 – 2015: 8,792
Italy was one of the Europeans countries most affected by the 2008 financial crisis. One of the solutions Italian government applied was to increase its weapons exports by a large margin, in order to provide a much-needed cash infusion to its stumbling economy. This led to some awkward deals, involving countries that are usually mentioned by Italian press as the ones with less than stellar human rights records. It did work as intended though and Italian weapons manufacturers benefited greatly from its government more lenient arms sales position. Their biggest buyers were Peru, Spain and Chile before the crisis, but today those places are taken by the United Arab Emirates, India, and Turkey.
6. China
Total TIV 2000 – 2015: 15,659
China’s inclusion on the list of 10 countries that export the most weapons in the world is a recent event. Ten years ago, China couldn’t offer any high-tech weaponry, but massive investments in R&D (and reverse engineering, some would add) and its own defense budget have begun to pay dividends. The China weapons exports have almost doubled in the last five years. Today it sells almost everything, from missile systems to Turkey to frigates to Algiers. In the 2010-2014 period, China ranks as third largest weapons supplier in the world, with a clear tendency to remain there in the future or even take the second spot. While the quality of Chinese weapons still lags behind those made in Russia and US, it is far cheaper and serves its purpose just fine for those countries, not in the need for the ultra high-tech gear Chinese rivals on the market make. Still, China remains one of the largest buyers on arms market, as it is poised to receive anti-aircraft systems and fighter jets from Russia in 2016 and 2017.
5. The United Kingdom
Total TIV 2000 – 2015: 18,705
The sale of BAE Typhoon fighter jets to Saudi Arabia is one of the largest arms deals ever concluded. The deal, consisting of 72 aircraft, is worth £4.5 billion ($6.5 billion) and will allow Saudi Air Force to operate more Typhoons than RAF. The UK is not only supplying Typhon fighters to Saudi Arabia but also selling RAF stocks of bombs to provide the kingdom with ammunition in their offensive against Houthi guerrillas in Yemen. The British government is also trying to get Bahrain to buy the Eurofighter, despite the fact that both of these countries are on the UK’s list of “countries of humanitarian concern”. In fact, out of 27 countries on that list, the UK sells weapons and equipment to 24 of them.
4. France
Total TIV 2000 – 2015: 26,594
For a while, it seemed that failed deal with Russia regarding two Mistral-class amphibious assault ships would put a serious dent into France’s weapons exports. However, it turned out that there’s no shortage of buyers for two state-of-the-art ships, and they were sold to Egypt instead, for €950 million (about 1.06 billion USD). Egypt also purchased 24 Dassault Rafale fighters. The Middle East is a traditional market for French weaponry, including the top weapons buyer in recent years, Saudi Arabia. Similar to other NATO countries, there’s a growing pressure in France to reduce or even stop altogether all arms deals with the oil-rich kingdom, due to growing concerns about human rights violations in that country.
3. Germany
Total TIV 2000 – 2015: 28,587
Despite the promises made by the German government to reduce arms sales, especially to conflict regions, the opposite happened. Its weapon exports saw a significant rise, fueled by the 50% increase in weapon sales to Arab countries and North Africa. According to Deutsche Welle, total weapon and equipment sales rose to 7.5 billion euros ($8.49 billion). Germany sold armored personnel carriers to Kuwait, submarines to Israel, tanker aircraft to the United Kingdom, and guided missiles to South Korea. Germany remains a top weapon exporter among EU and NATO (excluding the USA), but with mounting pressure to reduce arms sales to third-party states, it is difficult to foresee for how long.
2. Russia
Total TIV 2000 – 2015: 121,359
After the Soviet Union collapsed in the 1990s, it seems that its once powerful weapons industry will follow suit and crumble as well. However, with Putin’s rise to power, Russia saw its weapons exports rising as well. Despite occasional corruption scandals, like the one with an Algerian MiG-29 order, it is managed to hold on to the second spot among weapons exporters. The recent Russian intervention in Syria has been an excellent showcase of what their hardware can accomplish when operated by competent and well-trained crews, although the downed MiG-25 by the Turkish forces managed to put a little dent in Russian plans. Russia’s place on this list seems secure, with S-300 AA system, MiG-35, and Su-35 4++ generation jet fighters and T-90 main battle tank being staples of country’s future arms sales.
1. The United States
Total TIV 2000 – 2015: 121,359
The absolute juggernaut when it comes to weapon exports and manufacturing and number one on the list of 10 countries that export the most weapons in the world is, of course, the US. In fiscal 2015, the United States exported a $46.6 billion worth of weapons to their customers. Although not on par with 2012, when Uncle Sam supplied $60 billion in weapons and equipment ($29.4 billion to Saudi Arabia, most of it in the form of F-15 fighter jets), it was still a pretty good year for defense contractors around the country. The war against ISIS has forced the USA not only to increase its exports to their allies in the region, but also to change the structure of weapons exports, delivering more sophisticated weapons that are usually banned from sales in an unstable region like the Middle East, in fear of ending up in the wrong hands.
