Ukraine became the world’s largest importer of major arms during the 2020-2024 period, with its imports increasing nearly 100 times compared with 2015-2019, while Russian exports fell by 64%.
That’s according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Ukrinform reports.
Ukraine received 8.8% of global arms imports in 2020–2024. Most of the major arms supplied to Ukraine came from the United States (45%), followed by Germany (12%) and Poland (11%). At least 35 states sent weapons to Ukraine after Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, and substantial further deliveries are in the pipeline.
SIPRI analysts also emphasize the significant role of American arms supplies to European NATO member states, viewing this as a response to the threats posed by Russia. According to the study, 64% of the arms imports during the reporting period came from the United States.
Overall, arms imports by the European NATO members more than doubled between 2015-19 and 2020-24 (+105%).
For the first time in two decades, the largest share of U.S. arms exports in 2020-2024 went to Europe (35%) rather than the Middle East (33%). Nevertheless, the top single recipient of U.S. arms was Saudi Arabia (12% of U.S. arms exports).
Arms exports by the U.S. increased by 21% between 2015-2019 and 2020-2024, and its share of global arms exports grew from 35% to 43%. The U.S. supplied major arms to 107 states in 2020-2024. It is followed by France as the second-largest arms exporter (9.6%, to 65 states), Germany (5.6%), and Italy (4.8%). China accounts for 5.9%, but despite China’s efforts to increase its arms exports, many large importers do not buy Chinese arms for political reasons.
In contrast to the U.S., arms exports by Russia fell sharply (–64%) between 2015-2019 and 2020-2024. The decline started before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022: in 2020 and 2021 export volumes were much smaller than in any year in the previous two decades.
SIPRI experts said that two of Russia’s most important arms-trading relationships had already weakened before 2022, with India increasingly favoring other suppliers, and China sourcing more arms from its own burgeoning arms industry. In 2020-2024, Russia delivered major arms to 33 states. Two-thirds of Russian arms exports went to three states: India (38%), China (17%) and Kazakhstan (11%).
Source: Ukraine becomes world's biggest arms importer – SIPRI
