Top 10 largest arms exporters and importers in 2021–2025 List: As global conflicts and geopolitical tensions rise, countries are strengthening their militaries, driving major changes in the global arms trade.

According to the March 2026 SIPRI Trends in International Arms Transfers report, global arms transfers increased by 9.2 per cent between 2021 and 2025, compared to the previous five-year period (2016–2020). This marks the largest increase since 2011–2015.

The United States remains the world’s largest arms supplier, maintaining its position from last year. Its share of global arms exports rose by 27 per cent, increasing from 36 per cent in 2016–2020 to 42 per cent in 2021–2025.

Alongside the US, France, Russia, Germany, and China are the top five arms suppliers. Together, these countries account for 70 per cent of global arms exports.

However, among the top five arms suppliers, Russia was the only country to experience a significant decrease, with its share of global arms exports falling by 64 per cent.

Source: SIPRI Arms Transfers Database, March 2026.

Note: Percentages below 10 are rounded to 1 decimal place; percentages over 10 are rounded to whole numbers.

On the other hand, Ukraine is the world’s largest major arms recipient in 2021–25, with its share of total global arms imports increasing dramatically from just 0.1 per cent in 2016–20 to 9.7 per cent in 2021–25, a rise of 11,896 per cent over the decade.

The top five recipients, Ukraine, India, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Pakistan, received 35 per cent of total global arms imports in 2021–25.

Among them, India and Saudi Arabia saw a decline in the share of global arms imports.

Pakistan, on the contrary, rose from 10th to 5th, increasing its share by 66 per cent from 2016–20 to 2021–25.

Source: SIPRI Arms Transfers Database, March 2026.

Note: Percentages below 10 are rounded to 1 decimal place; percentages over 10 are rounded to whole numbers.

Although India is not among the world’s largest arms exporters, it ranks second among major arms importers during 2021–2025.

India accounts for 8.2 per cent of global arms imports. However, its share declined by 4 per cent compared to the 2016–2020 period.

SIPRI reported that this decline was partly due to India’s increasing self-reliance and domestic production of its own weapons.