World - Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values)

The latest value for Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values) in World was 22,400,000,000 as of 2020. Over the past 60 years, the value for this indicator has fluctuated between 42,561,000,000 in 1981 and 15,746,000,000 in 1961.

Definition: Arms transfers cover the supply of military weapons through sales, aid, gifts, and those made through manufacturing licenses. Data cover major conventional weapons such as aircraft, armored vehicles, artillery, radar systems, missiles, and ships designed for military use. Excluded are transfers of other military equipment such as small arms and light weapons, trucks, small artillery, ammunition, support equipment, technology transfers, and other services. Figures are SIPRI Trend Indicator Values (TIVs) expressed in US$ m. at constant (1990) prices. A '0' indicates that the value of deliveries is less than US$0.5m.

Source: Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Arms Transfers Programme (http://portal.sipri.org/publications/pages/transfer/splash).

See also:

Year Value
1960 16,124,000,000
1961 15,746,000,000
1962 16,007,000,000
1963 18,454,000,000
1964 24,299,000,000
1965 22,920,000,000
1966 22,235,000,000
1967 22,575,000,000
1968 23,042,000,000
1969 25,775,000,000
1970 22,892,000,000
1971 29,869,000,000
1972 29,355,000,000
1973 33,324,000,000
1974 34,209,000,000
1975 35,207,000,000
1976 32,681,000,000
1977 37,202,000,000
1978 40,233,000,000
1979 33,612,000,000
1980 37,666,000,000
1981 42,561,000,000
1982 41,921,000,000
1983 40,356,000,000
1984 37,799,000,000
1985 34,362,000,000
1986 36,374,000,000
1987 36,890,000,000
1988 33,435,000,000
1989 32,894,000,000
1990 28,969,000,000
1991 27,955,000,000
1992 24,245,000,000
1993 25,853,000,000
1994 22,833,000,000
1995 22,975,000,000
1996 23,820,000,000
1997 28,879,000,000
1998 27,793,000,000
1999 25,137,000,000
2000 19,248,000,000
2001 18,434,000,000
2002 17,782,000,000
2003 18,932,000,000
2004 21,325,000,000
2005 20,898,000,000
2006 24,560,000,000
2007 26,607,000,000
2008 24,105,000,000
2009 23,806,000,000
2010 25,718,000,000
2011 29,971,000,000
2012 27,956,000,000
2013 27,128,000,000
2014 26,983,000,000
2015 28,585,000,000
2016 31,371,000,000
2017 31,694,000,000
2018 26,967,000,000
2019 26,933,000,000
2020 22,400,000,000

Development Relevance: Although national defense is an important function of government and security from external threats that contributes to economic development, high military expenditures for defense or civil conflicts burden the economy and may impede growth. Data on military expenditures are a rough indicator of the portion of national resources used for military activities and of the burden on the economy. Comparisons of military spending among countries should take into account the many factors that influence perceptions of vulnerability and risk, including historical and cultural traditions, the length of borders that need defending, the quality of relations with neighbors, and the role of the armed forces in the body politic.

Limitations and Exceptions: SIPRI calculates the volume of transfers to, from and between all parties using the TIV and the number of weapon systems or subsystems delivered in a given year. This data is intended to provide a common unit to allow the measurement if trends in the flow of arms to particular countries and regions over time. Therefore, the main priority is to ensure that the TIV system remains consistent over time, and that any changes introduced are backdated. SIPRI TIV figures do not represent sales prices for arms transfers. They should therefore not be directly compared with gross domestic product (GDP), military expenditure, sales values or the financial value of export licences in an attempt to measure the economic burden of arms imports or the economic benefits of exports. They are best used as the raw data for calculating trends in international arms transfers over periods of time, global percentages for suppliers and recipients, and percentages for the volume of transfers to or from particular states.

Original Source Notes: SIPRI statistical data on arms transfers relates to actual deliveries of major conventional weapons. To permit comparison between the data on such deliveries of different weapons and to identify general trends, SIPRI has developed a unique system to measu

Statistical Concept and Methodology: Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)'s Arms Transfers Program collects data on arms transfers from open sources. Since publicly available information is inadequate for tracking all weapons and other military equipment, SIPRI covers only what it terms major conventional weapons. Data cover the supply of weapons through sales, aid, gifts, and manufacturing licenses; therefore the term arms transfers rather than arms trade is used. SIPRI data also cover weapons supplied to or from rebel forces in an armed conflict as well as arms deliveries for which neither the supplier nor the recipient can be identified with acceptable certainty; these data are available in SIPRI's database. Data cover major conventional weapons such as aircraft, armored vehicles, artillery, radar systems and other sensors, missiles, and ships designed for military use as well as some major components such as turrets for armored vehicles and engines. Excluded are other military equipment such as most small arms and light weapons, trucks, small artillery, ammunition, support equipment, technology transfers, and other services.

Aggregation method: Sum

Base Period: 1990

Periodicity: Annual

General Comments: Data for some countries are based on partial or uncertain data or rough estimates.

Classification

Topic: Public Sector Indicators

Sub-Topic: Defense & arms trade