A recent analysis by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) shows: The ongoing conflict with Russia is leading to a massive arms build-up in Europe. In addition, Russia’s arms exports have halved – but this is not only due to the Ukraine war.
The feeling of a threat from Russia has grown in many European governments not only since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but also since the annexation of Crimea in 2014 in violation of international law. According to SIPRI, this has led to European states increasingly purchasing heavy armaments such as fighter jets, tanks and air defense systems.
According to the report, European countries’ imports of major weapons increased by 94% between 2019 and 2023 compared to the previous five-year period due to Russia’s aggressive course. The main beneficiary of this is the USA. More than half of European countries’ arms imports come from US companies.
Even outside of Europe, the USA remains – by far – the largest arms exporter in the world. Between 2019 and 2023, the United States supplied heavy weapons to a total of 107 countries and increased its sales by 17% compared to the previous five-year period. In the same period, US arms exports were 282% higher than those of France, the world’s second largest arms exporter. Compared to the previous period, France was able to increase its exports by 47 percent, while Russia – previously number two in the ranking of the largest exporters – saw its arms exports fall by around half.
According to the SIPRI researchers, the reasons for this are the high consumption of weapons in the Ukraine war, as well as a decline in orders from China and India and restrictions due to current sanctions. With regard to India and other Asian countries, European arms manufacturers in particular have enjoyed good business in recent years. According to SIPRI researcher Pieter Wezeman, one driver for this is the “growing suspicion of many countries in Asia and Oceania towards China’s increasing military capabilities and territorial claims as well as great power ambitions”.
