European countries have sharply increased their arms purchases over the past five years, with new data showing a significant surge in imports even before the latest geopolitical tensions in the Persian Gulf.
According to figures from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), European states more than tripled their arms imports between 2021 and 2025, making Europe the world’s largest arms-importing region during that period.
The United States emerged as the dominant supplier, increasing its arms exports to Europe by 217%.
Europe becomes the largest arms-importing region
European countries accounted for 33% of global arms imports, with the region’s purchases rising by 210% between 2016–20 and 2021–25.
After Ukraine, Poland and the United Kingdom were the largest arms importers in Europe during the past five years.
Nearly half of the weapons delivered to European countries came from the United States (48%), followed by Germany (7.1%) and France (6.2%).
Growing threat perceptions related to Russia, combined with uncertainty over the long-term commitment of the United States to European security, have further strengthened demand for weapons among European member states of NATO.
Arms imports by the 29 European NATO members increased by 143% between 2016–20 and 2021–25. The United States supplied 58% of those imports during the period.
Other significant suppliers included:
- South Korea – 8.6%
- Israel – 7.7%
- France – 7.4%
According to SIPRI, although European defence companies have increased production and new European Union investment has supported the arms industries of member states, European countries continued to import large quantities of US weapons between 2021 and 2025, particularly fighter aircraft and long-range air defence systems.
At the same time, the largest European arms manufacturers continued to send most of their exports outside Europe.
Major global arms suppliers
The United States accounted for 42% of all global arms transfers between 2021 and 2025, up from 36% between 2016 and 2020.
During that period, the United States exported weapons to 99 countries, including:
- 35 countries in Europe
- 18 in the Americas
- 17 in Africa
- 17 in Asia and Oceania
- 12 in the Middle East
For the first time in two decades, the largest share of US arms exports went to Europe (38%), rather than the Middle East (33%).
Despite this shift, the largest single recipient of US weapons remained Saudi Arabia, which accounted for 12% of total US arms exports.
France, Germany and other exporters
France ranked as the second-largest exporter of major weapons, accounting for 9.8% of global exports between 2021 and 2025. French arms exports increased by 21% compared with the previous five-year period.
France exported weapons to 63 countries, with the largest shares going to:
- India – 24%
- Egypt – 11%
- Greece – 10%
French arms exports within Europe increased more than fivefold (+452%), although nearly 80% still went to countries outside the region.
Russia, meanwhile, was the only major supplier to record a significant decline in exports. Russian arms exports fell by 64%, with its share of global exports dropping from 21% in 2016–20 to 6.8% in 2021–25.
Russia supplied major weapons to 30 countries and one non-state actor during that period. Almost three quarters (74%) of Russian arms exports went to just three countries:
- India – 48%
- China – 13%
- Belarus – 13%
Germany, Italy and Israel increase exports
Germany overtook China to become the fourth-largest arms exporter between 2021 and 2025, accounting for 5.7% of global exports. Nearly 24% of German arms exports went to Ukraine as military assistance, while another 17% went to other European countries.
Italy recorded a 157% increase in arms exports, rising from the tenth-largest exporter in 2016–20 to the sixth-largest in 2021–25.
More than half of Italian exports were directed to the Middle East (59%), while:
- 16% went to Asia and Oceania
- 13% to Europe
Israel, ranked as the seventh-largest arms supplier, increased its share of global exports from 3.1% in 2016–20 to 4.4% in 2021–25, surpassing the United Kingdom (3.4%) for the first time.
Source: iefimerida.gr