New Exports from Turkey to the Philippines
January 4, 2021Bayraktar UAV to Be Used in Ukrainian Navy This Year
January 4, 20211 Billion Euro Exports from Germany to the Middle East
Berlin approved arms exports totalling €1.16 billion to countries in the Middle East in 2020, German news agency DPA reported, citing Economy Ministry data.
According to the report, Germany reached an agreement in 2020 to export weapons and military equipment worth 752 million euros with Egypt, 305.1 million with Qatar, 51 million with the United Arab Emirates, 23.4 million with Kuwait, 22.9 million with Turkey, 1.7 million with Jordan and 1.5 million euros with Bahrain.
Middle East Became the Largest Importer
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) report covering 2015-2019, the main arms importers in the last five years were Saudi Arabia with 12%, India with 9.2% and Egypt with 5.8%.
The biggest arms exporters in the last five years are the United States, Russia, France, Germany and China. According to the report, Germany’s arms exports have increased by 17% in the past five years.
Ongoing conflict in the Middle East has caused countries in the region to increase their arms imports by 61% compared to previous years. Saudi Arabia retained its title as the world’s largest importer of military equipment between 2015 and 2019.
The countries that sell the most weapons to Saudi Arabia are the United States and Britain. Although the European Union and the United States have expressed discomfort over Saudi Arabia’s intervention in Yemen, both Britain and the United States have continued to sell arms to this country. It was noted that 73% of the weapons sold to Saudi Arabia came from the UNITED States and Britain.