The defence industry comprises research and development, engineering, production as well as servicing of equipment and facilities. Developing an indigenous defence industry requires large allocation of human and economic resources which is not a luxury for a lot of countries across the world. For the year 2017-2021, SIPRI has identified 163 countries which are the major arms importers across Asia, Africa and Latin America. Here are the top 10 arms importer in the world in the period 2017-21 based on the SIPRI report:
1. India India is the largest arms importer in the world accounting for 11 percent of international military arms and equipment across the world in the period 2017-21. Russia makes up 46 percent of India’s defence imports, followed by France at 27 percent and the USSA at 12 percent. In the period of 2017-2021, India has attempted to diversify its arms suppliers, even though Russia remains the dominant player in the Indian market. Given the heightened tensions with China at the LAC and the ever nuisance Pakistan trying to fan turbulence in northern parts of India, India is likely to import critical defence equipment even as it pushes for defence indigenization.
2. Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia is a major power in West Asia. It also accounts for 11 percent of the global defence imports in the period 2017-21. Out of Saudi Arabia’s total imports, the US makes up for 82 percent of its imports, France at 5.1 percent and the UK at 5 percent. Compared to the period 2012-2016, the arm imports to the west Asian country increased by 27 percent. The Yemen war has played a huge role in decisions to import costly equipment such as Patriot air defence systems.
3. Egypt Egypt is the third largest weapons importer in the world. The north African country accounted for 5.7 percent of the global imports between 2017 and 2021. Russia is the largest defence exporter to Egypt, making up 41 percent of the weapons supply, followed by France at 21 percent and Italy at 15 percent. The import of weapons from 2017-21 was 73 percent higher when compared to the 2012-16 period.
4. Australia Australia is the fourth largest weapons importer in the world for the period 2016-21. The US made up 67 percent of the defence exports to Australia in the said period, followed by Spain at 24 percent and Switzerland at 3.3 percent. Australia’s arms import rose by 62 percent in the 2017-21 period, when compared to 2012-2016 period. The significant increase is because of the rising threat of China in the Indian Ocean. In 2017-21, Australia imported 50 combat aircrafts and 11 anti-submarine aircrafts from the US, among other imports.
5. China China is the fifth largest importer of weapons in the world. It accounts for 4.8 percent of global weapons import in the period 2017-21. Russia made up 81 percent of its weapons import, followed by France at 9.1 percent and Ukraine at 5.9 percent. The imports are expected to decrease in the next few years given that they have an indigenous defence manufacturing ecosystem.
6. Qatar Qatar is the sixth largest importer of arms and defence equipment. It accounts for 4.6 percent of defence imports for the period 2017-21. The US made up 46 percent of Qatar’s defence imports at 46 percent, followed by France at 36 percent and Italy at 6.1 percent. Qatar’s arms import for the period 2017-21 increased 227 percent when compared to 2012-2016 period.
7. South Korea South Korea is the seventh largest arms importer in the world. It accounts for 4.1 percent of the global arms import for the period 2017-2021. The US accounts for 63 percent of South Korea’s total imports, followed by Germany at 27 percent and France at 7.8 percent. This is a 71 percent increase in overall defence imports when compared to the period 2012-2016. The critical arms imports include F-35 combat aircrafts and air defence equipment.
8. Pakistan Pakistan is the eighth largest weapons importer in the world. It accounts for 3 percent of total weapons import in the period 2017-21. China accounts for 72 percent of Pakistan’s total arms import, followed by Sweden at 6.4 percent and Russia at 5.6 percent. This is a 11 percent decrease in weapons import when compared to the period 2012-2016.
9. United Arab Emirates The UAE is the world’s 9th largest weapons importer. It accounts for 2.8 percent of the overall global defence imports. The US accounts for 61 percent of the UAE’s total imports, followed by France at 6.2 percent and Russia at 5.3 percent. This is a 41 percent decrease in weapon’s import by the UAE when compared in the period 2012-2016. The UAE has also ordered 80 combat aircrafts from France in 2021, ensuring the weapons import remains very high.
10. Japan Japan is the 10th largest weapons importer in the world. It accounts for 2.6 percent of the global weapons import in the period 2017-21. The US accounts for 98 percent of Japan’s total import, followed by the UK at 1.7 percent and Sweden 0.7 percent. This is a 152 percent increase when compared to the period 2017-21. This increased spend is because of the perceived Chinese threat.
