Moscow’s share of global arms exports declined sharply in the most recent five-year period, with sales limited by Western sanctions and the need to reserve arms output for its own war efforts.
Russia’s arms exports dropped 31% in the five years that ended in 2022, compared with the five years that ended in 2017, according to data released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Russia’s share of global arms exports dropped to 16% from 22%.
The decline has widened Russia’s gap with the U.S. – which dominates global arms exports at 40% – and narrowed Moscow’s gap with the world's third-biggest arms exporter France, whose market share increased from 7.1% to 11%.
A steep increase in sales and future orders of arms to countries in Asia, Oceania, and the Middle East over the last five years suggests French suppliers could surpass their Russian rivals within a decade.
European countries have increased major arms imports by 47% as tensions with Russia have risen since it invaded Ukraine.
The institute uses multiyear periods because large deliveries can distort annual figures; it bases its figures on a points system that calculates the military value of arms exports
