Europe has increased its arms imports by 210% between 2021 and 2025, making it the largest importing region in the world. This is mainly due to the conflict in Ukraine, which has made the Eastern European country the largest single arms importer.
This is according to a report published on Monday by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). It compares the increase with the period from 2016 to 2020.
The global volume of arms transfers increased by 9.2% over the same time period. The United States continued to consolidate its position as the top arms exporter, while exports from Russia declined significantly. The growth in global flows was the highest since the period from 2011 to 2015. With the exception of Europe and the Americas, arms imports to all other regions declined.
Ukraine accounted for 9.7% of global arms imports over the past five years, almost half of which came from the US. It has thus become the largest single importer of arms in the world. Last year, however, the country's arms imports fell sharply, which can be explained by a decline in U.S. shipments.
Europe is the largest buyer of weapons from the US
For the first time since the 1960s, Europe has become the world's largest arms importing region, accounting for a third of global arms imports. SIPRI Programme Director Mathew George said that in addition to Ukraine, European states have also increased their military power because of the threat from Russia.
Europe purchased almost half of its weapons, 48%, from the US. It has thus replaced the Middle East and has become the largest buyer of U.S. weapons systems. US exports to Europe increased by 217%.
The United States accounted for 42% of total arms transfers over the past five years. This increased from 36% between 2016 and 2020. In total, the U.S. exported arms to 99 countries, with Europe accounting for the largest share of the country's exports at 38%, followed by the Middle East at 33%. Of the individual countries, Saudi Arabia was the largest buyer, accounting for 12% of total U.S. exports.
France was the second largest arms supplier with a 9.8% share of the total volume. Total exports from the country rose by 21%, with intra-European exports up 452%. However, almost 80% of French arms exports went outside Europe.
Russian arms exports have fallen
Russia was the only top ten supplier of weapons systems whose exports fell, by 64%. Russia's share of global exports then fell to 6.8% from 21% between 2016 and 2020. Nearly three-quarters of Russian exports went to India, China and Belarus.
Germany overtook China to become the fourth largest arms exporter in the past five years, accounting for 5.7% of global exports. Almost a quarter of all exports by the neighbouring country went to Ukraine and another 17% to other European countries.
Among other countries, exports from Italy rose by 157%, moving the country up to sixth from tenth among arms exporters. More than half of the exports went to the Middle East. Israel, the world's seventh largest arms supplier, then increased its share of global exports by 1.3% to 4.4%, overtaking Britain for the first time, whose share was 3.4%. Israel focuses on air defence systems, which are in high demand globally.
Among importers, Asia and Oceania was the second largest importing region after Europe, accounting for 31 per cent of global imports, despite sharp declines in imports to South Korea and China. Both countries have reduced imports and increasingly rely on domestically produced weapons. This is the first time since 1991-1995 that China has not been among the top ten importers.
Originally published on March 9, 2026 at 12:25 GMT+2
Newsletter
Every Friday morning.
