Spain increases arms sales by 29% and is the ninth largest exporter in the world

BarcelonaUkraine has become the world's largest arms importer in the 2020-24 period, in response to the Russian invasion. This has consolidated the US's dominance in the global market: 43% of weapons exported to the planet are American-made, while Russian exports have fallen by 64%. Spain has increased arms exports by 29% and is ninth in the world ranking, with 3% of the total: the main buyers of Spanish arms are Saudi Arabia, Australia and Turkey. These are the most important data from the report on international arms transfers published this Monday by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

Albert Caramés, director of Fundipau, explains to ARA that "Spain is capitalising on the drop in Russian exports, but in recent years it has done so less because the United States is gaining ground in Europe." And he shares the concern of the anti-militarist movement because Madrid "is following the flow of European rearmament." He warns that "with the extended budgets, the government cannot officially increase the Defence budget and so it resorts to strategies such as giving extraordinary credits to the military industry or revealing funds that were previously secret in order to increase spending and give a good impression in the eyes of the EU and the United States." He also highlights that "there is no alternative vision to European rearmament: NATO countries want to mark their own profile, but dependence on the United States remains enormous."

The total volume of arms transfers to the world, however, remains at levels similar to those recorded since 2010, since the increase in imports in Europe and America was offset by the decrease in other regions. The top 10 arms exporters in 2020-24 are the same as a decade ago, but Russia (with 7.8% of global exports) falls to third place, behind France (9.6%), while Italy (4.8%) rises from tenth to sixth.

More dependence on the United States

At least 35 states have sent weapons to Ukraine since the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022: the country received 8.8% of global arms imports. Most of these came from the US (45%), Germany (12%) and Poland (11%).

Europe's military dependence on the US has increased in the face of the Russian threat. Arms imports by European NATO members have more than doubled (+105%). The US has provided 64% of these weapons, a significantly higher share than in the 2015-19 period (52%). Other major suppliers were France and South Korea (6.5% each), Germany (4.7%) and Israel (3.9%).

"With an increasingly belligerent Russia and strained transatlantic relations during Trump's first presidency, European NATO states have taken steps to reduce their dependence on arms imports and to strengthen the European arms industry," says Pieter Wezeman of the researcher. "However, the transatlantic arms supply relationship has deep roots. Imports from the United States have increased and European NATO states have almost 500 fighter aircraft on order and many other weapons awaiting delivery."

The United States consolidates dominance and Russia collapses

US arms exports increased by 21% between 2015-19 and 2020-24, with global exports increasing from 35% to 43%. The US supplied arms to 107 states in the 2020-24 period.

For the first time in two decades, the largest share of US arms exports to Europe (35%) exceeds the Middle East (33%). However, the single largest recipient of US arms is Saudi Arabia (12%), although the data does not include the latest arms transfers to Israel for the genocidal Gaza operation.

"The US occupies a unique position in the arms trade. At 43%, its share of global exports is more than four times that of the next largest exporter, France," explains Mathew George. "The United States remains the preferred supplier of advanced long-range strike weapons such as fighter jets," he adds.

In contrast to the United States, Russia's arms exports have fallen sharply (-64%). The decline began before the large-scale invasion of Ukraine, already in 2020 and 2021. "The war against Ukraine has further accelerated the decline in Russian arms exports, as more weapons are needed on the battlefield, trade sanctions make it difficult for the US to produce and sell Russian weapons," explains Pieter Wezeman. "Two of Russia's most important arms trade relationships had already weakened before 2022, as India favoured other suppliers and China prioritised its own industry," he points out. Russia has sold heavy weapons to 33 states, with India (38%), China (17%) and Kazakhstan (11%) being the main buyers.

France is the world's second largest arms supplier, supplying 65 states. French arms exports to other European states have almost tripled (+187%). But France's biggest customer is India (28%), which bought twice as much French weapons as all European countries combined, followed by Qatar (9.7%). In third place is Greece, which has bought fighter jets (8.3%).

China was the fourth largest arms exporter in the 2020-24 period, accounting for 5.9% of global exports: despite Beijing's efforts to promote its arms industry, many major importers avoid buying Chinese weapons for political reasons.

Middle East imports down

Arms imports by Middle Eastern states have fallen by 20%. Four of the top ten global importers in 2020-24 are from the region: Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Kuwait. Qatar became the world's third-largest arms importer in 2020-24 (up from 10th in 2015-19), while Saudi Arabia's imports have fallen by 41%. More than half of arms imports in the region come from the United States (52%), Italy (13%), France (9.8%) and Germany (7.6%).

Despite the war in Gaza, Israel's arms imports have remained virtually stable through 2024. Israel's main arms suppliers are the United States (66%), Germany (33%) and Italy (1%). Israel is the 15th-largest arms importer in the world.

"Israel has received significant military aid from the US following the Hamas-led attack on 7 October 2023," notes SIPRI researcher Zain Hussain. "However, for its recent military operations, Israel has mainly used weapons supplied by the US in previous years. Israel's adversaries, Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis, have relied on Iranian weaponry."

Wars in West Africa

Arms transfers to West Africa have increased dramatically over the past 15 years due to worsening conflicts. Combined arms imports by West African states almost doubled (+82%) between 2010-14 and 2020-24. Nigeria accounted for by far the largest share (34%) of West African arms imports in 2020-24.

Aircraft and missiles

Fighter aircraft remain the main type of long-range attack weaponry imported by states, although interest in long-range land-attack missiles is on the rise. In 2020-24, the US supplied 45% of global exports of long-range land-attack missiles, delivering them to seven states, with deliveries pending to thirteen more.