Gun Exports by Country 2024

Weapons are big business around the world. However, some countries are far more significant when it comes to producing and exporting guns than others.

Between 2019 and 2022, the United States exported the most weapons by a wide margin, sending more than $45.8 billion worth of weapons to other countries around the globe. This has climbed steadily since 2020, from $9.4 billion that year to $14.5 billion in 2022. Russia sits in a distant second place, with just about a third of the U.S. exports between 2019 and 2022 ($15.2 billion.) The country's arms exports have fallen by half since 2019, from $5.6 billion annually to $2.8 billion in 2022. France isn't far behind for the 2019-2022 period, exporting nearly $12.9 billion in guns.

There's another significant drop to the fourth- and fifth-place gun-exporting nations, China and Italy, at $5.7 and $4.7 billion over the three-year period, respectively. Europe and Asia are the most represented on the top ten list. Italy has grown its sector the most among the top gun exporters between 2019 and 2022, from just $384 million to more than $1.8 billion. Spain also more than tripled, from $308 million to $950 million. Along with Russia, exports fell in the United Kingdom from $910 million in 2019 to $656 million in 2022.

Many nations export almost no guns. Mexico, Malaysia, and Panama all racked up just $1 million in exports each between 2019 and 2022, while Luxembourg had less than $100,000. Greece ($7 million), Taiwan ($7 million), Estonia ($6 million), Nigeria ($5 million), Croatia ($4 million), and Thailand ($4 million) round out the list of countries under $10 million in gun exports. The world's lowest exports are scattered regionally, including Europe, the Americas, Asia, and Africa.

It goes without saying that some international gun trade happens outside traditional legal channels. An estimated $40 million in arms changed hands in 2022 without a clear country of origin, nearly half of the $82 million total from the 2019-2022 period.