A single war can change the very nature of a region. The horrors of the Second World War transformed Europe into the continent of peace.
In the next five decades, internal borders in Europe disappeared, and the continent enjoyed the ‘peace dividend’ for the rest of the century.
Now, more than seven decades later, a single war is again fundamentally changing the continent.
Conscription is back in many European states, and the region has emerged as the world’s largest arms importer.
According to the latest report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Ukraine is the world’s largest arms importer, and seven European countries are among the world’s top 20 arms importers.
Europe Tops Global Arms Imports
According to the SIPRI database for 2021-2025, Europe has overtaken Asia and the Middle East as the largest importer of weapons.
Between 2016 and 2020, Asia and Oceania accounted for 42% of global arms imports, followed by the Middle East at 32%, while Europe accounted for only 12%.
However, the global arms trade has completely changed in the last four years.
Between 2021 and 2025, Europe topped the list with 33% of the global arms imports, followed by Asia and Oceania at 31%, and the Middle East at 26%.
In just four years, the European arms imports have almost tripled, from 12% to 33%, a direct impact of the Russia-Ukraine War.
Even within Europe, Ukraine and Poland top the list for arms importers, underlining how fears of Russian aggression are fueling militarism in Eastern Europe.
In fact, Ukraine is now the world’s largest arms importer.
Between 2016 and 2020, Ukraine accounted for just 0.1% of global arms imports; however, over the next four years, its share jumped to 9.7%, an increase of 11,896 percentage points.
Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, at least 36 states have supplied major arms to Ukraine. Its top three suppliers in 2021–25 were the USA (41 per cent of Ukrainian arms imports), Germany (14 per cent), and Poland (9.4 per cent).
“Threat perceptions concerning Russia, compounded by uncertainties over the USA’s commitment to defending its European allies, have boosted demand for arms among European countries,” the SIPRI report said.
Similarly, Poland’s share jumped from 0.4% in 2016-2020 to 3.6% in 2021-2025, an increase of 852%.
The NATO member states of Europe are also increasing their arms imports.
Arms imports by the 29 current European NATO states grew by 143 per cent between 2016–20 and 2021–25. Well over half of these imports (58 per cent) came from the USA in 2021–25.
In 2021–25, Poland received the largest share of arms imports among European NATO member states, accounting for 17% of all arms imports by these countries.
Notably, at the 2025 NATO Summit in The Hague, all 32 NATO member states (with the exception of Spain) committed to a new target of investing 5% of their annual GDP on defence and security-related spending by 2035.
This initiative, known as “The Hague Investment Plan,” aims to bolster security against long-term threats, such as Russia.
The 5% goal consists of at least 3.5% for core defence (salaries, training, weapons) and up to 1.5% for security-related investments, such as infrastructure.
Apart from Ukraine and Poland, five other European countries also feature in the list of the world’s top 20 arms importers: the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, Greece, and Norway.
The Netherlands’ share of global arms imports jumped from 0.9% in 2016-2020 to 1.8% in 2021-2025, a 111% increase.
Similarly, Germany’s share jumped from 0.2% to 1.7% over the four-year period, a 914% increase.
Greece’s share jumped from 0.4% to 1.5%, a 295% increase.
Denmark’s share in global arms imports jumped from 0.2% to 1% over the four-year period, registering a 348% increase.
Belgium’s share in global arms imports has also increased by 1141%.
The increasing arms imports by European countries are directly benefiting the US.
According to SIPRI data, for the first time in two decades, the largest share of US
arms exports went to Europe in 2021–25 (38 per cent).
This clearly shows that, to a large extent and despite all the talk of ‘Buy European,’ Europe is still dependent on the US for military technology and arms imports.
At the same time, the USA has large volumes of pending arms exports to Europe. Notably, 12 European states had a total of 466 F-35 combat aircraft on order or preselected for order as of the end of 2025.
Of these 466 aircraft, 39 were ordered or preselected for order during 2025.
“Although European firms have ramped up arms production and the European Union’s new investment support for member states’ arms industries has led to a number of intra-EU orders, European states continued to import US arms in 2021–25, especially combat aircraft and long-range air defence systems,” said Katarina Djokic, researcher with SIPRI’s arms transfers program.
“At the same time, the largest European suppliers continued to send most of their arms exports outside Europe.”
While Europe’s increasing arms imports have benefited the US, a few European states have also benefited, increasing their arms exports manifold.
For instance, France, already the world’s second-largest arms exporter after the US, increased its share of global arms exports by 21%.
Between 2016 and 2020, France’s share of global arms exports was 8.8%, increasing to 9.8% between 2021 and 2025.
Similarly, Germany has overtaken China as the world’s fourth-largest arms exporter, increasing its share by 11%, from 5.4% in 2016-2020 to 5.7% in 2021-2025.
However, within Europe, Italy witnessed the largest surge in its arms exports.
Italy’s share in global arms exports increased from 2.2% in 2016-2020 to 5.1% in 2021-2025, registering a 157% increase.
Similarly, Poland’s share in global arms exports increased by a massive 4387% over the last four years.
Sweden’s share in global arms exports increased by 58%, from 0.6% in 2016-2020 to 0.9% in 2021-2025.
Norway’s share in global arms exports increased by 349%, froom 0.2% in 2016-2020 to 1% in 2021-2025.
However, Europe is by no means an exception in this trend. Over the last four years, global arms exports have increased by as much as 10%.
“The sharp increase in arms flows to European states pushed global arms transfers up almost 10%,” said Mathew George, one of the authors of the new SIPRI study.
“Most other European states have also started importing significantly more arms to shore up their military capabilities against a perceived growing threat from Russia,” George added.
A volatile geopolitical environment in many parts of the world is directly contributing to the increasing arms trade. For instance, over the last year, there has been a war between India and Pakistan, Thailand and Cambodia, Pakistan and Afghanistan, Israel-US and Iran, and civil wars in Syria, Yemen, Sudan, and Libya.
Overall, the US remains the world’s largest arms exporter. It has even cemented its position.
Between 2016 and 2020, the US share in global arms exports was 36%, which increased to 42% in 2021-2025, an increase of 27%.
The US is followed by France in second position, having a share of 9.8% in global arms exports.
Russia, despite a sharp decline in its arms exports, remains in third place.
Russia’s share in global arms exports collapsed from 21% to 6.8% in just four years, witnessing a decline of 64%.
“It (Russia) was the only supplier among the top 10 globally whose arms exports decreased (–64 per cent) between the two periods. The sharp fall was largely due to substantial decreases in Russian arms exports to Algeria, China, and Egypt.”
Russia is followed by Germany, China, Italy, Israel, and the UK. South Korea is in ninth position, and Spain is in tenth.
Among the world’s largest arms importers, Ukraine tops the list with a share of 9.7%, followed by India (8.2%), Saudi Arabia (6.8%), Qatar (6.4%), and Pakistan (4.2%).
Europe’s turn towards militarism can have far-reaching consequences.
Both World Wars were essentially European wars that engulfed the entire planet. The period from 1945 to 2020, which saw no major war in Europe, was an exception for the continent known for its violent history.
The SIPRI arms transfer data suggests that Europe, once again, is dangerously moving towards militarism.
- Sumit Ahlawat has over a decade of experience in news media. He has worked with Press Trust of India, Times Now, Zee News, Economic Times, and Microsoft News. He holds a Master’s Degree in International Media and Modern History from the University of Sheffield, UK.
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- He can be reached at ahlawat.sumit85 (at) gmail.com
