The largest importer of major arms between 2016 and 2020, Saudi Arabia, accounted for 11% of the global market. India followed with 9.5% of the market share, according to new data on global arms transfers published by SIPRI, while Egypt stood third. Australia was the 4th-largest arms importer in the world over the past five years, with China ranking 5th.

Middle Eastern arms imports grew by 25 percent in the period, driven chiefly by Saudi Arabia (+61%), Egypt (+136%), and Qatar (+361%). Over half of France’s arms exports were to Egypt, Qatar, and India.

These Are The World's Biggest Importers Of Major Arms

RankCountryShare of arms imports (%) 2016–20Main suppliers (share of importer’s total imports, %) 1Saudi Arabia11USA (79) 2India9.5Russia (49) 3Egypt5.8Russia (41) 4Australia5.1USA (69) 5China4.7Russia (77) 6Algeria4.3Russia (69) 7South Korea4.3USA (58) 8Qatar3.8USA (47) 9UAE3USA (64) 10Pakistan2.7China (74) 11Iraq2.5USA (41) 12Japan2.2USA (97) 13United States2.1UK (22) 14United Kingdom2.1USA (72) 15Israel1.9USA (92) 16VietNam1.8Russia (66) 17Singapore1.7USA (36) 18Indonesia1.7USA (23) 19Italy1.5USA (62) 20Turkey1.5USA (29) 21Norway1.3USA (79) 22Bangladesh1.2China (71) 23Thailand1.2South Korea (26) 24Oman1.2UK (47) 25Afghanistan1USA (89) 26Netherlands1USA (90) 27Kazakhstan1Russia (89) 28Jordan0.9USA (36) 29Morocco0.9USA (90) 30Canada0.8USA (48) 31Philippines0.8South Korea (42) 32Azerbaijan0.7Israel (69) 33Myanmar0.7China (48) 34Taiwan0.6USA (100) 35Mexico0.6USA (49) 36Poland0.6USA (33) 37Brazil0.6France (23) 38Belarus0.5Russia (99) 39Angola0.5Russia (64) 40Malaysia0.5Spain (32)

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