The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute issued its report on arms imports and export trends from 2007 to 2011.
The volume of international transfers of major conventional weapons was 24 per cent higher in the period 2007–11 than in 2002–2006. In 2011, the United States and India maintained their positions as the world’s top exporter and importer of arms, respectively.
This is good news for the US, because such a large portion of overall American exports are defense products.
The agency adds
The five biggest suppliers of major conventional weapons in the period 2007–11 were the United States, Russia, Germany, France and the United Kingdom. The USA and Russia remained by far the largest exporters, accounting for 30 per cent and 24 per cent of all exports, respectively. The top 5 suppliers accounted for 75 per cent of exports of major conventional weapons in the period 2007–11, compared with 78 per cent for the same five suppliers in the period 2002–2006.
And
The five largest importers of major conventional weapons in the period 2007–11 were all in Asia and Oceania: India, South Korea, Pakistan, China and Singapore. Together, the top 5 recipients accounted for 30 per cent of imports of major conventional weapons in 2007–11, compared with 39 per cent in 2002–2006, when the top 5 recipients were China, India, the UAE, Greece and South Korea. India, the largest recipient, accounted for 10 per cent of global arms imports. China, which was the largest recipient in 2002–2006, fell to fourth place in 2007–11
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