Ukraine is largest arms importer in world, - SIPRI
In 2020-2025, Ukraine increased imports of major types of weapons by almost 100 times compared to 2015-19.
According to Censor.NET, this is evidenced by data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
Thus, in 2020-24, Ukraine accounted for 8.8% of global arms imports. Most of the main supplies came from the United States (45%), Germany (12%), and Poland (11%). In total, at least 35 countries have sent weapons to Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion.
SIPRI analysts also emphasise the importance of US arms supplies to European NATO member states, which they see as a response to threats from Russia. According to the study, 64% of arms imports during the reporting period came from the United States.
In general, arms imports by European NATO members more than doubled (by 105%) compared to the previous five years.
For the first time in two decades, the largest share of US arms exports went to Europe (35%) rather than the Middle East (33%).
US arms exports increased to 43% overall, with the country supplying major weapons to 107 countries in 2020-24. It is followed by France as the second largest arms exporter (9.6%, 65 countries), Germany (5.6%), and Italy (4.8%). China accounts for 5.9%, but despite the country's efforts to increase arms exports, many major importers do not buy Chinese weapons for political reasons.
In contrast to the US, Russia's arms exports have fallen sharply (-64%) to 7.8%. The decline began even before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine: in 2020 and 2021, exports were much lower than in any year in the previous two decades.
SIPRI experts write that the two most important arms trade sectors for Russia have already weakened: India is increasingly favouring other suppliers, and China is sourcing more weapons from its own rapidly developing arms industry. In 2020-24, Russia supplied major weapons to 33 countries. Two-thirds of Russia's arms exports go to India (38%), China (17%) and Kazakhstan (11%).
As a reminder, in 2019-2023, Ukraine ranked fourth in the world in terms of arms imports. Ukraine's share in the global volume of imported arms is 4.9 per cent.
