The war in Ukraine has triggered the purchase of weapons in Europe, which in a single year has doubled the import of armaments despite the downward trend in the global market. On the other hand, the country in conflict has become the third world destination for weapons, according to the report of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri).
Europe is the only region in the world where purchases are increasing. With an increase of 93% in one year, imports have also increased due to the rise in military spending of states such as Poland and Norway, which according to the study will accelerate even more. While global arms trade fell by 5.1% between 2013-2017 and 2018-2022, Europe imported 47% in that period, rising to 65% if all member countries of NATO on the continent.
“The invasion has caused a significant increase in the demand for arms in Europe, which has not yet shown its full potential and will in all likelihood lead to further increases in imports,” Pieter Wezeman, co-author of the prestigious report, told AFP. which has been published for three decades.
Over the course of a year, Ukraine has gone from being an insignificant arms importer to becoming the third largest buyer, behind Qatar and India, as a direct result of the Russian invasion.
Of the 29 countries that have supplied arms to Ukraine, the United States accounted for 35 percent of the total, followed by Poland (17 percent), the United Kingdom (10 percent) and the Czech Republic (4.4 percent).
On the other hand, the United States has strengthened its dominance in the global arms trade in the last five years. US arms sales grew by 14% in 2018-2022 compared to 2013-2017 and its share of global exports rose from 33% to 40% in that time, while ‘has widened the gap with the second largest exporter, Russia, weighed down by sanctions and focused on production for its own military.
If in 2013-2017 US exports were 50% greater than Russian exports, the following year this distance multiplied to 148%. Russian exports fell by 31% in this period and their global share dropped from 22% to 16%.
Spain is the sixth world exporter, with a share of 2.6% despite a fall in sales, with Australia, Saudi Arabia and Belgium as the main buyers. India remains the main importer, with a share of 11%.
