1. Introduction

This publication provides market intelligence on defence export orders from non-UK countries.

The estimates presented within this report are based on contract information from the United States, Australian and Canadian governments, and NATO. It also uses intelligence from specialist providers of defence market intelligence and supplementary information from other media organisations.

Please see the methodology report for more information about data sources.

As with the UK Defence Export Statistics series, the figures presented below are based on orders data, not deliveries of defence goods and services.

The survey used to produce the UK defence exports provides greater coverage of UK exports than is possible for other countries’ exports and uses a different methodology to the data sources used to inform this market intelligence. Therefore, the results are not comparable, and UK exports are excluded from this piece of research.

For these reasons, we advise users not to combine or compare the UK Defence Export Statistics 2023 figures with the market intelligence figures. Please see the methodology note for more details.

1.1 Note on defence export trends and cycles

Defence exports that are measured by orders and contracts typically see significant peaks and troughs that may not reflect the flow of delivery or receipt of payment. This is because the fulfilment of those orders, along with any associated payments, could be spread over several years. That spread is not captured in the data collected for these figures, and the value of orders can therefore change substantially from year to year.

Some charts in this report present the 5-year moving averages. This means that each value shown represents the average of the values seen in the 5 years up to and including that year, rather than the actual value of contracts/orders in that specific year.

The 5-year moving average, therefore, accounts for all data from our 10-year time series. In places we have stated total values of contracts for countries over the previous 5 years (2019 to 2023).

These total values are more variable, so we recommend not using these for any comparisons over time and instead using the 5-year moving average values for these comparisons. The charts throughout the report are clearly labelled for where a 5-year moving average has been used and where it has not.

1.2 Note on inflation and exchange rates

All figures are reported in nominal prices (not adjusted for inflation), unless otherwise stated. We recognise that some of the recent increases in trade values will be partly due to price increases.

Most sources report their figures in United States dollars (USD), with orders in this report also reported in USD. Where this is not the case and sources have used other currencies, figures are converted using exchange rate in line with the Bank of England rates.

1.3 Note on included countries

The international trends described in this publication are based on published information about defence contracts and orders. As there is no central international repository for defence orders, the comparisons shown in this report are based only on publicly available data sources, which are likely to leave some exporters or importers under-represented, potentially by a significant margin, compared to others.

Therefore, countries are only included where defence contract information is publicly available. For these reasons, any trends presented in this report should be treated as indicative only. For ease, throughout the report, we have structured analysis around the top 7 exporters and importers of defence goods and services derived from our dataset. Again, these trends should be considered indicative only.

In previous years’ research, estimates on Russia’s exports have been included. Russia is not included for 2023 due to limited availability of data. We would assume that Russia’s defence exports are limited due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and economic sanctions. 

China does not appear in the top exporting countries in our report, due to limited data availability on their defence export orders. Open-source information from SIPRI (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute) on arms deliveries suggests that China is a significant defence exporter. We do not include SIPRI data in this publication, as this data source only reports on global arms deliveries and not on defence related orders.

2. Executive summary

From the data we have, the key findings from this report are:

• the United States was the top exporter of defence products and services in 2023
• Europe was the largest destination region for defence exports in 2023, overtaking Asia Pacific and Middle East for the second consecutive year
• Australia was the largest defence importer in 2023
• aerospace products and services accounted for 46% of the value of other countries total defence exports in 2023
• other countries’ defence exports

Our data shows that the United States was the largest exporter of defence products and services in 2023 at $37.9 billion. This accounted for 55% of total orders within the top 7 countries for that year.

South Korea and France were the second and third largest exporter at $7.7 billion and $6.2 billion respectively.

Germany and Israel trailed closely behind at $4.9 billion each. Norway and Sweden came in sixth and seventh with $3.7 billion and $3.4 billion respectively.

Norway and Sweden entered the top 7 exporters in 2023 for the first time in our data. They pushed out Poland and Italy, who were not in the top 7 in 2023 despite having made the top 7 in 2022. This is due to multiple high value orders in 2023.

2.1 Figure 1: Total value of defence exports in 2023, by top 7 countries 

Source: various governmental, industry and media sources

2.2 Five-year moving averages

Our data shows that the United States has been the largest defence exporter globally from 2019 to 2023. This accounted for 60% of total orders by the top 7 countries from 2019 to 2023. The 5-year moving average from the United States increased markedly in 2020, due in large part to high value aircraft orders to multiple countries in that year.

The next largest exporters continue to trend much lower than the United States, although South Korea’s moving average of exports have continued to grow in 2021, 2022 and again in 2023. This is due to the successful export of platforms, including the K2, K9 and FA-50.

Figure 2a shows the 5-year moving average export trends for the top 7 countries over the 5 years of 2019 to 2023. Figure 2b shows the same information, excluding values for the United States, to enable the values of other countries to be seen more clearly.

2.3 Figure 2a: Trends in value of defence exports by exporting country: 5-year moving average 

Source: various governmental, industry and media sources

Note: Our data shows that Russia would make the top 7 exports over the years of 2017 to 2023. However, Figure 2a excludes Russia as we have no data for 2022 or 2023, and this would skew moving averages for those years if it was included.

2.4 Figure 2b: Trends in value of defence exports by exporting country (excludes United States exports): 5-year moving average

Source: various governmental, industry and media sources

2.5 Five-year total value of defence exports, 2019 to 2023

Our data shows that the United States has remained the top defence exporter since 2019, with exports totalling $261 billion over the years of 2019 to 2023, accounting for 60% of total orders by the top 7 countries from 2019 to 2023.

France came in second at $61 billion accounting for 14% of exports in the same period. South Korea was the third largest exporter from 2019 to 2023 at $26 billion, accounting for 6% of total orders by the top 7 countries in the 5-year period.

Please note that, the total values of contracts for countries over the previous 5 years is more variable than the moving average, so we recommend using the moving averages values for any comparisons over time.

2.6 Figure 2c: Total value of defence exports by exporting country over the 5 years of 2019 to 2023

Source: various governmental, industry and media sources

3. Other Countries’ exports by destination region

Until 2022, Asia Pacific and Middle East were the largest destination markets for defence exports since 2019. However, in 2022, Europe became the largest market and remained so in 2023, which is partly driven by large defence orders to Poland.

The notable increase in the value of exports to unknown destinations since 2020 is principally due to a large contract for F-16 aircraft exported by the United States, which related to various destination countries.

While it was possible to identify some destination countries and their corresponding values using information from other sources, a lot of order value could not be related to specific countries or regions and are recorded in our data as unknown.

3.1 Figure 3: Trends in value of exports by destination region: 5-year moving average

Source: various governmental, industry and media sources

4. Other countries’ exports by destination country

In 2023, Australia was the top importer of defence exports, with orders totalling $14.1 billion.

Germany were second at $6.9 billion, making it into the top 7 importers for the first time over the past 5 years. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia trailed in third and fourth, with import orders worth $4.4 billion and $3.8 billion respectively.

Norway also reached the top 7 importers for the first time since 2021 with orders worth $2.7 billion. Canada debuted in the top 7 for the first time in the past 5 years with orders totalling $2.3 billion, while Switzerland remained in the top 7 for the second year with import orders also totalling $2.3 billion.

It is important to note that given the fluctuations of total order data, a country can enter the top 7 due to one big order and not re-enter the top again for several years. 

4.1 Figure 4: Total value of defence imports in 2023, by top 7 countries

Source: various governmental, industry and media sources

4.2 Five-year moving average

Over the 5 years from 2019 to 2023, based on the data we have, Australia and the UAE became were the largest importers of defence goods and services, with orders averaging $7 billion and $6.6 billion respectively over the period.

Over the 5 years up to 2022, Saudia Arabi was the largest importer of defence products and services, on average. The UAE saw a substantial increase in its 5-year average orders since 2021, in large part due to an order of aircraft from France in 2021.

Since 2020, India’s moving average of defence imports has decreased, due to decreases in the value of annual orders from 2017 onwards.

4.3 Figure 5: Trends in value of defence imports by country: 5-year moving average

Source: various governmental, industry and media sources

5. Other countries defence orders by products and services

When processing our data, goods and services are categorised into the following 4 categories depending on their intended use: ‘aerospace, sea, land and unknown’.

Over 2023, aerospace products and services had the highest value of orders at $35.1 billion, accounting for 46% of total orders in 2023. Land products and services accounted for $28.1 billion of orders, accounting for 36% of total orders in 2023. Sea products and services accounted for $8.8 billion of orders, accounting for 11% of total in 2023.

Note that it is not always possible to relate contract information to a specific product and services group. Where contracts do not clearly fit within a specific product and services type, they have been included as ‘unknown’.

5.1 Figure 6: Value of other countries defence exports by products and services, 2023

Source: various governmental, industry and media sources

5.2 Five-year moving average

Based on our data, aerospace products and services have consistently been the largest group of defence products and services exported over the past 5 years, accounting for 57% of defence export order over the 5 years from 2019 to 2023.

On a 5-year moving average basis, the value of aerospace products and services increased from 2019 due to large orders in 2020 and 2021. This can partly be explained by the United States receiving $62 billion in orders for F-16 aircrafts in 2020 and a French contract to provide Rafale aircraft and helicopters to the UAE in 2021.

The moving averages for other products and services has been relatively stable for our time series.

5.3 Figure 7: Trends in value of other countries defence exports by products and services: 5-year moving average

Source: various governmental, industry and media sources