IV. The financial value of states’ arms exports

Chapter:

5. International arms transfers

Source:

SIPRI Yearbook 2014

Author(s):

Siemon T. Wezeman, Lucie Béraud-Sudreau, Pieter D. Wezeman, Mark Bromley

Table 5.8 presents official data on the financial value of states’ arms exports in the years 2003–12. The countries included in the table are those that provide official data on the financial value of ‘arms exports’, ‘arms export licences’ or ‘arms export agreements’ for at least 6 of the 10 years covered and for which the average of the values given exceeds $10 million. The data is taken from reports by, direct quotes from, or direct communication with governments or official industry bodies. The stated data coverage reflects the language used by the original source. National practices in this area vary, but ‘arms exports’ generally refers to the financial value of arms actually delivered; ‘arms export licences’ generally refers to the financial value of licences for arms exports issued by the national export licensing authority; and ‘arms export agreements’ refers to the financial value of agreements signed for arms exports. Neither the licences nor the agreements necessarily lead to actual deliveries, and their reported values are likely to be an overestimate. In addition, even if they lead to actual deliveries, those are likely to be spread over several years. Thus, a high or low value for licences or agreements in one year (e.g. the very high value of agreements for the USA in 2012) is not necessarily indicative of a trend change.