MilitarySpend
Defense Economics Research
Snapshot · SIPRI-based

Global flows

The global arms trade.

Who sells the world's weapons, and who buys them — major conventional arms flows from exporting to importing nations, drawn as arcs across the globe.

Reference period 2019–2023 · exporter → importer flows · 25 tracked
Total tracked flow
$
Top exporter share
%
Tracked flows

The international weapons market is dominated by a handful of suppliers. United States alone accounts for 44% of the 25 major flows tracked here. Each arc below runs from an exporting nation to one of its largest customers; warmer, thicker arcs carry more value. The globe is an enhancement — the full ranked data is in the tables underneath and always available.

Exporter → importer flows

Exporter (pulses red) Importer (pulses ink) Comet arc · exporter → importer, brighter = more value

Top exporters

01
United States$52.2B
02
Russia$19.9B
03
France$17.4B
04
Germany$8.4B
05
China$5.6B
06
South Korea$4.3B
07
United Kingdom$3.4B
08
Israel$2.8B
09
Italy$2.4B
10
Spain$2.1B

Top importers

01
India$18.2B
02
Saudi Arabia$16.2B
03
Qatar$12.3B
04
Egypt$10.7B
05
Australia$9.0B
06
South Korea$8.3B
07
Japan$7.4B
08
Pakistan$5.6B
09
Israel$5.4B
10
China$4.7B
11
United Kingdom$4.6B
12
Poland$4.3B
13
Kuwait$3.2B
14
Algeria$3.1B
15
Ukraine$2.9B
16
United Arab Emirates$2.6B

Source & method

This snapshot draws on the SIPRI Arms Transfers Database (2019–2023 trend). We first attempt the UN Comtrade public API (HS commodity 93, arms & ammunition); when a reliable response isn't available the page falls back to a curated set of the largest exporter → importer flows. This snapshot used: Curated from SIPRI Arms Transfers Database (2019–2023 trend). Values are approximate USD-equivalent magnitudes for relative comparison only.. Reported values are approximate USD-equivalent magnitudes for relative comparison only — SIPRI measures transfer volume in trend-indicator values (TIV), not financial price, so these figures should not be read as exact dollar amounts. Snapshot generated July 14, 2026. See Methodology.