“The invasion has indeed caused a significant increase in the demand for weapons in Europe, and will most likely continue to do so, leading to a further increase in imports in European countries,” a researcher at the institute commented on the findings for the French news agency AFP Pieter Wezemann.

The import of weapons to Ukraine increased 60 times year-on-year

Until last year, Ukraine was a negligible importer of arms, but last year, in the light of Western arms supplies, after the Russian aggression against the country, it quickly became the third largest. Only Qatar and India are ahead of it. According to the data of the institute Cyprus the import of weapons to Ukraine last year amounted to 31 percent of all deliveries to Europe and eight percent on a global scale. Compared to the previous year, it increased by 60 times.

Outside of Ukraine, the growth of arms imports to Europe reached 35 percent last year and was expected due to the war. However, the strengthening of the supply of weapons to the old continent was already noticeable before, as European countries began to strengthen their armaments in light of heightened tensions with Moscow after its annexation of Crimea in 2014, he states. Cyprus.

Less arms are imported to other continents

Cyprus otherwise, it analyzes trends in arms sales based on five-year periods. In the last period between 2018 and 2022, compared to the previous five-year period, European arms imports increased by a total of 47 percent, while globally they fell by five percent.

In contrast to Europe, other continents saw a drop in imports. In Africa, it was as much as 40 percent, and in North and South America it was 20 percent. In Asia, the import of weapons decreased by seven percent, and in the Middle East by nine percent.

Another important shift took place in the Middle East, where the largest share of exported weapons went in the past year – as much as 32 percent of all in the world. This one climbed in front of the region Asia and Oceania, which was in first place for several years, slipped to second place last year with 30 percent. In third place is Europe, where 27 percent of the world’s arms exports were destined.

China is ramping up its domestic arms production

China continues to boost military spending but increasingly produces weapons at home, which has led to a decline in arms imports to Asia, a Stockholm-based institute found in a report released today.

Among individual countries, Qatar imported the most weapons, ten percent of all, followed by India with nine, Ukraine with eight, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates with seven each, and Pakistan with five percent.

The largest arms exporter to the US

Among arms exporters in the last five-year period, the United States remains in first place with 40 percent of exports. It is followed by Russia with 16, France with 11, China with five and Germany with four percent. Together, they account for three quarters of all arms exports in the world. But while the American and French shares have grown, they have fallen in all others.