Global Arms Trade Network

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Trading weaponry to other nations is a huge business.

Researchers at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute and the World Bank calculated the volume of exports and imports of every weapon from machine guns to submarines.

The larger a nation looks, the more arms it imports or exports. The color-coded ring shows the level of each nation’s participation.

The world’s largest army weapon exporters

The United States is the largest arms exporter in the world, shipping more than $12 billion in arms to other nations. A considerable volume of American arms exports goes to Israel and some other large consumers like Saudi Arabia, Egypt, UAE, South America, Europe, as well as Australia, and New Zealand.

Russia is the 2nd most exporter ($6.15 billion). France ($2.16 billion) is the other nation exceeding $2 billion, with the rest of the significant players from Europe participating less. Russia exports weapons mainly to CIS countries, as well as to old allies.

China, notwithstanding being the second-largest economy globally, only exports some $1.13 billion. China exports arms primarily to African countries.

The top 10 weapons exporters

1. United States – $12.39 billion
2. Russia – $6.15 billion
3. France – $2.16 billion
4. Germany – $1.65 billion
5. Israel – $1.26 billion
6. Netherlands – $1.17 billion
7. United Kingdom – $1.21 billion
8. China – $1.13 billion
9. Spain – $814 million
10. Italy – $660 million

Let’s examine who’s getting all those weapons.

The world’s largest army weapon importers

The global map of importers looks utterly distinct from the exporters. Saudi Arabia and India are significant trading players. Every nation is enclosed by a smattering of other countries making substantial bargains also.

The top 10 weapons importers

1. Saudi Arabia – $4.11 billion
2. India – $3.36 billion
3. Egypt – $2.36 billion
4. Australia – $1.81 billion
5. Indonesia – $1.20 billion
6. China – $1.12 billion
7. South Korea – $918 million
8. Algeria – $905 million
9. The United Kingdom – $899 million
10. UAE – $848 million

There are many causes why some nations are significant importers. A worldwide market is efficient where a country can purchase weapons instead of producing everything at home. For example, why would Australia attempt to manufacture military aircraft when it can easily buy them from the United States? Moreover, many local conflicts urge nations to spend money on modern military technologies, like India and Pakistan. And then, there are several disreputable nations headed by dictators or oligarchies. Such countries also tend to spend a lot of money on the best weapons.