Spain increased its arms exports by 6.7% in the last five years compared to the previous five years, according to a report released this Monday by the.
Spanish sales accounted for 2.3% of the world total (one tenth less than in 2016-20), which places Spain as the tenth exporter, at a time when it is also high on the agenda of national and international debates and even generates clashes with allies.
Saudi Arabia (28%), Türkiye (16%) and Belgium (12%) were the main buyers of Spanish weapons in the last five years.
Spain occupies 39th place on the list of global buyers, with 0.6% of the total, more than double that of five years ago.
The majority of Spanish purchases come from the United States (49%), followed by Switzerland (25%) and France (9.1%).
Europe, shot
The report highlights that the global arms trade grew by 9.2% in the last five years, compared to the previous year, due to the increase in demand in Europe, due to the war in Ukraine and the reinforcement of self-defense.
European countries tripled their arms imports in the 2021-25 period compared to 2016-20, causing global transfers to experience the largest increase in a decade.
“Those from 2022 are the most obvious factor, but most European states have also begun to purchase significantly more weapons to reinforce their defensive capabilities due to the perception of a growing threat from Russia,” SIPRI said in a statement.
After Ukraine, Poland and the United Kingdom were the main importers in Europe, where 48% of arms purchases come from the United States.
The joint imports of the 29 European member countries of NATO increased by 143% in the last five years.
The US strengthens its control of world trade
The United States expanded its dominance in the sector with a 27% increase in its exports, taking its share of the global arms market from 36% to 42%.
For the first time in two decades, Europe overtook Europe as the region that received the most American weapons, with 38% compared to 33%, while Saudi Arabia remains the main recipient country, ahead of Ukraine and Japan.
The report highlighted that this increase in American dominance occurs in the context of an increasingly multipolar world.
“For importers, US weapons offer advanced capabilities and a way to have good relations with the US, while the US sees arms exports as a foreign policy tool and a way to strengthen its arms industry,” SIPRI noted.
US arms sales are four times those of the world’s second largest exporter, France, which increased its sales by 21% compared to 2016-20 and accounts for 9.8% of the total, with India, Egypt and Greece, in that order, as the main buyers.
A Lockheed Martin F-35B fighter of the US Marine Corps, at the Roosevelt Roads Naval Station (Puerto Rico), part of the extra deployment in the Caribbean to fight against drugs.
The decline in Russian sales continues and Germany overtakes China
With a 64% decrease in its exports compared to the previous five years, Russia follows with 6.8% of the world total, compared to the 21% it had then.
Germany overtakes China and with a 15% increase it becomes the fourth largest exporter in the world, with a share of 5.7% of the total.
The report highlighted that Italy moves from tenth to sixth place, thanks to a 157% increase in its arms exports, which have the Middle East as their main destination; and that Israel surpasses the United Kingdom and places itself in seventh place.
“Despite the war in Gaza and the attacks in Iran, Lebanon, Qatar, Syria and Yemen, Israel managed to increase its share of global arms exports. The Israeli arms industry focuses on air defense systems, which are in high demand worldwide,” SIPRI noted.
“Despite the war in Gaza and attacks in Iran, Lebanon, Qatar, Syria and Yemen, Israel managed to increase its share of global arms exports”
Spain is the tenth largest exporter in the world with a 6.7% increase in sales in the last five years and 2.3% of the world total.
Arms transfers to Ukraine fall
As in last year’s SIPRI report, Ukraine remains the main world importer comparing the 2021-25 and 2016-20 periods, with 9.7%, despite the fact that the volume of weapons transferred in 2025 was lower than in 2023 and 2024, due to the “substantial” reduction by the United States.
At least 25 countries agreed last year to buy weapons from the US and then transfer them to Ukraine in its war against Russia, the report noted.
India was the second world importer despite a slight decrease compared to the previous five years, with 8.2% of the total.
Russia remains India’s main arms supplier, with 40%, although sales have almost halved in the last decade as New Delhi has begun to increase its purchases from Western firms.
Saudi Arabia, with 6.8%, maintains third place on a list in which, for the first time in thirty years, China disappears from the top ten, because it has expanded national production of its own designs.
On the American continent, arms purchases rose 12%, with the United States accounting for more than half of imports, an increase that amounts to 31% in South America, with Brazil leading the way with an increase of 150%.
