Submitted by Taps Coogan on the 10th of March 2020 to The Sounding Line.

Enjoy The Sounding Line? Click here to subscribe.

According to a study by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), global arms exports grew 5.5% from 2015 through 2019, bringing them to their highest level since the end of the Cold War.

Over the last five years, the US has accounted for 36% of global arms exports and has seen its exports grow by an astonishing 23% compared to the prior five years.

Those US weapons have wound up in at least 96 countries around the world, as the following map from Statista.com shows. According to the SIPRI “Half of US arms exports in the past five years went to the Middle East, and half of those went to Saudi Arabia.” Growth was also strong in Europe, Australia, Japan, and Taiwan.

Russia remains the world’s second largest arms exporter, accounting for 21% of global sales from 2015 through 2019. However, Russian arms exports fell 18% compared to the prior five year period, largely due to a loss of business in India. The SIPRI noted “Russia has lost traction in India, the main long-term recipient of Russian major arms, which has led to a sharp reduction in (Russian) arms exports.”

The number three exporter, France, has seen arms exports rise by a stunning 72% over the last five years. Yet again it is India which is partially behind the shift. India has agreed to a controversial deal to buy roughly $8 billion of Rafale fighter jets from France.

Would you like to be notified when we publish a new article on The Sounding Line? Click here to subscribe for free.