The United States remains the world's largest arms exporter, increasing its global share of arms exports from 32 percent to 37 percent between 2011-2015 and 2016-2020, said a Swedish-based research institute on Monday.
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said in its latest study that, the U.S. supplied major arms to 96 states in 2016-2020, far more than any other supplier.
Almost half (47 percent) of U.S. arms transfers went to the Middle East. Saudi Arabia alone accounted for 24 percent of total U.S. arms exports. The 15-percent increase in U.S. arms exports between 2011-2015 and 2016-2020 further widened the gap between the U.S. and the second-largest arms exporter Russia.
The third-largest exporter, France, also experienced substantial growth between 2011-2015 and 2016-2020. France increased its exports of major arms by 44 percent and accounted for 8.2 percent of global arms exports in 2016-2020. India, Egypt and Qatar together received 59 percent of French arms exports, the study said.
The fourth-largest exporter Germany increased its exports of major arms by 21 percent between 2011-2015 and 2016-2020 and accounted for 5.5 percent of the global total. The top markets for German arms exports were South Korea, Algeria and Egypt, the study said.
