Arms Industry: Rise in international arms transfers is driven by Asian demand, says SIPRI

Missile

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) reported that Asia and Oceania accounted for 44 per cent of global arms imports, followed by Europe (19 per cent), the Middle East (17 per cent), the Americas (11 per cent) and Africa (9 per cent).

India was the world’s largest recipient of arms, accounting for 10 per cent of global arms imports. The four next largest recipients of arms in 2007–2011 were South Korea (6 per cent of arms transfers), Pakistan (5 per cent), China (5 per cent) and Singapore (4 per cent).

The five biggest suppliers of major conventional weapons in the period 2007–11 were the United States, Russia, Germany, France and the United Kingdom. The USA and Russia remained by far the largest exporters, accounting for 30 per cent and 24 per cent of all exports, respectively. The top 5 suppliers accounted for 75 per cent of exports of major conventional weapons in the period 2007–11, compared with 78 per cent for the same five suppliers in the period 2002–2006.

The Amnesty International Rights group reports that in the five years preceding the Arab spring $2.4bn worth of small arms, tear gas, armored vehicles and other security equipment was sold to five specified countries that have faced or are facing popular uprisings - Bahrain, Egypt, Libya, Syria and Yemen.

And these sales were committed by at least 20 governments including Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, the UK and the US.

EU-Digest