SIPRI: 94% of Armenian arms imports come from Russia, 64% of Azerbaijani imports are from Israel

Both Armenia and Azerbaijan have been building up their military capabilities through major arms imports in recent years. In 2016–20 Russia accounted for 94 percent of Armenian arms imports while Israel accounted for 69 percent of Azerbaijan’s arms imports, Report informs referring to new data on global arms transfers published by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

For the first time since 2001–2005, the volume of deliveries of major arms between countries did not increase between 2011–15 and 2016–20.

The US remains the largest arms exporter, increasing its global share of arms exports from 32 to 37 percent between 2011–15 and 2016–20. The US supplied major arms to 96 states in 2016–20, far more than any other supplier. Almost half (47 percent) of US arms transfers went to the Middle East.

The third and fourth largest exporters also experienced substantial growth between 2011–15 and 2016–20. France increased its exports of major arms by 44 percent and accounted for 8.2 percent of global arms exports in 2016–20. India, Egypt and Qatar together received 59 percent of French arms exports.

Germany increased its exports of major arms by 21 percent between 2011–15 and 2016–20 and accounted for 5.5 percent of the global total. The top markets for German arms exports were South Korea, Algeria and Egypt.

Russia and China both saw their arms exports falling. Arms exports by Russia, which accounted for 20 percent of all exports of major arms in 2016–20, dropped by 22 percent (to roughly the same level as in 2006–10). The bulk - around 90 percent - of this decrease was attributable to a 53 percent fall in its arms exports to India.

The biggest growth in arms imports was seen in the Middle East. Middle Eastern states imported 25 percent more major arms in 2016–20 than they did in 2011–15. This reflected regional strategic competition among several states in the Gulf region. Saudi Arabia—the world’s largest arms importer—increased its arms imports by 61 percent and Qatar by 361 percent.