The map above marks the world’s top 20 arms importers for the period 2003–2007. These countries are also listed above sorted by rank according to their share of total world arms imports. These rankings are based on SIPRI Trend Indicator Values (TIVs). TIVs represent the volume of arms transfers and not the financial value of the goods transferred. TIVs can be used to measure trends in international arms transfers, such as changes in the total flow of weapons and the geographic pattern of arms exports or imports. However, they are not comparable to official economic data such as gross domestic product or export/import figures. For more information click here.

The pie chart above shows how global arms imports are divided around the world. The percentage shows the country’s share of total world arms imports for the period 2003–2007.

Additional information

The SIPRI Arms Transfers Database is constantly being revised and updated as new information becomes available. For this reason, information previously extracted from the database, or contained in previous editions of the SIPRI Yearbook, may now be incorrect. If you wish to use information from the database it is therefore best to access data here as and when you need it. All information from the database is available for use free of charge on condition that the 'User rules' are abided by.

• View the map and pie chart for the top arms exporters, 2003–2007
• Enter the Arms Transfers Database
• Access output examples from the Arms Transfers Database

Return to Arms Transfers Project homepage Return to SIPRI homepage Contact the Arms Transfers Project.