India is the largest arm importer in the world as per SIPRI report

India was the world’s top arms importer. Its arms imports increased by 4.7 percent between 2014–18 and 2019–23. Although Russia remained India’s main arms supplier (accounting for 36 percent of its arms imports), this was the first five-year period since 1960–64 when deliveries from Russia (or the Soviet Union before 1991) made up less than half of India’s arms imports. Pakistan also significantly increased its arms imports (+43 percent). Pakistan was the fifth largest arms importer in 2019–23 and China became even more dominant as its main supplier, providing 82 percent of its arms imports.

Around 37 percent of transfers of major arms in 2019–23 went to states in Asia and Oceania, the largest share of any region but a slight decrease from 41 percent in 2014–18. The USA was the largest arms supplier to Asia and Oceania. The USA accounted for 34 percent of arms imports by states in the region, compared with Russia’s 19 percent and China’s 13 percent.

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Thirty percent of international arms transfers went to the Middle East in 2019–23. Three Middle Eastern states were among the top 10 importers in 2019–23: Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Egypt. Saudi Arabia was the world’s second-largest arms importer in 2019–23, receiving 8.4 percent of global arms imports in the period. Saudi Arabian arms imports fell by 28 percent in 2019–23, but this was from a record level in 2014–18. 

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