JERUSALEM, Mar 11: Propelled by growing demand for air defence systems, Israeli defence industries have registered impressive gains, surpassing Britain to become the 7th largest global arms exporter during 2021-25, according to a report.
Israel’s leading news portal ‘Times of Israel’, in a detailed report based on the findings of the Swedish research institute SIPRI, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, on Tuesday reported that India remains Israel’s largest purchaser of defence equipment.
According to SIPRI, Israel exports arms primarily to India (56%), Germany (21%), and the US (7.8%), the report said.
SIPRI published its global arms export and import report on Monday, comparing the arms exports of various countries in the years 2016–2020 to 2021–2025.
Israel’s share of global arms exports climbed to 4.4% in recent years (2021–2025), up from 3.1% in the previous period (2016–2020).
Israel is now the world’s seventh-largest arms exporter and, for the first time, has surpassed Britain in weapons exports, the report said.
Britain’s share of global exports currently stands at 3.4%.
The US leads the chart of arms exporters, followed by France (9.8%), Russia (6.8%), Germany (5.7%), China (5.6%), Italy (5.1%) and then Israel (4.4%).
Israel is also the 14th-largest arms importer in the world, with most of the weapons purchased from the United States (68%), followed by Germany (31%), and a small fraction from Italy (1%).
“The total volume of the global arms trade rose by 9.2% in 2021–2025 compared to 2016–2020. European nations more than tripled their weapons imports, effectively becoming the world’s largest arms-importing region,” the report said.
“This growth was driven by the global sales of air defence systems,” as per the report.
Among other findings, SIPRI’s report reveals that Israeli arms sales to Britain persisted despite domestic British criticism of Israel and announcements regarding the suspension of negotiations to upgrade the trade agreement between the two nations.
Besides India, the other significant buyers of Israeli arms include South Korea, Germany, the Philippines, Singapore and Morocco.
Iran, Israel’s arch-rival, ranks 25th on the list of the world’s largest arms exporters, with 73% per cent of its arms sales going to Russia, 17% to Venezuela and 9% to the Houthis in Yemen. (PTI)
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