Israel becomes world’s 7th largest arms exporter, surpassing the UK

Israel has surpassed the United Kingdom and become the world’s 7th-largest arms exporter, according to a new report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) published on Monday.

The report focuses on arms exports from various countries from 2016 to 2020 and from 2021 to 2025. The SIRI report reveals that Israel’s share of the total global arms exports increased during this period from 3.1% to 4.4%. The United States is the world’s largest arms exporter by a wide margin, constituting 42% of all arms sold worldwide. France is currently ranked second with a share of 9.8% followed by Russia 6.8%, Germany 5.7%, China 5.6%, Italy 5.1% and Israel 4.4%. The UK, which was previously ranked 7th, now accounts for 3.4% of global arms exports. 

The Jewish state has also become the world’s 14th-largest arms importer. Some 68% of Israel’s arms imports are from the U.S., 31% come from Germany and 1% comes from Italy.

U.S. arms exports to Israel constitute only 3.1% of all total U.S. exports worldwide. The report revealed that the European nations have tripled their arms imports and become the world’s collectively largest arms importer following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Saudi Arabia is currently the world’s single largest arms importer, with 12%, followed by Ukraine at 9.4% and Japan at 8.9%. 

Israel's continued rise as a global arms exporter comes despite vocal international boycott calls against the Jewish state following the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. 

The Israeli defense industry has played a central role in the Israeli economic recovery after over 2 years of war with the Islamic Republic of Iran and its regional terrorist proxies Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis in Yemen. The Israel Innovation Authority (IIA) director, Dror Bin, explained that this dramatic rise occurred despite many challenges amid the war's more intense phases. 

“High-tech companies had to overcome massive staffing cuts, because 15 to 20 percent of employees, and sometimes more, were called up,” Bin stated.

The SIPRI report highlighted Israeli arms exports to the UK despite the British government’s vocal criticism of Israel’s self-defense operations against the Iranian-backed terrorist militia Hamas in Gaza. The report revealed that Israel has become Britain’s second-largest arms supplier, only behind the U.S., providing London with 8.2% of its arms imports. 85% of the UK’s arms imports are from the U.S.

The SIPRI report also noted that Germany has become a major importer of Israeli defense technology platforms. 

In January 2026, Germany signed an expanded $US3.1 billion agreement with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) to support an increased Israeli export of the Arrow 3 aerial defense system. 

Amir Baram, Director-General of the Israeli Defense Ministry, explained at the time the importance of the growing defense ties between Germany and Israel. 

“The Arrow 3 contract expansion represents another significant milestone in our deepening strategic partnership with Germany, our key European ally. This landmark deal, valued at over $US3 billion, embodies the IMOD’s (Israel Ministry of Defense) strategy to expand defense exports,” Baram stated. Germany’s total Arrow agreement with Israel is to date $US6.5 billion, the largest export deal in the Israeli defense industry’s history. 

The SIPRI report also noted that other significant buyers of Israeli arms include India, South Korea, Singapore, Morocco, the Philippines, Thailand and Denmark. Israel has reportedly sold arms to 23 European countries, which constitute 41% of all Israeli arms exports.