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U.S. Department of State · Arms Imports (% of total imports)

Arms imports by country

What share of a country's imports are weapons?

Of the 170 countries compared in 2019, Somalia had the highest reading, 61.0%, and 36 countries shared the lowest reading, 0.0%. In the middle country the figure was 0.3%.

Part ofPeace & Security

Arms imports · 2019

Context statistic

Highest of 170Somalia

61.0%

012019 · values only

The highest and the lowest

The three countries with the highest values of 170 compared, the three with the lowest, and the highest on each continent. This statistic has no better end, so no country is shown as leading.

  1. 1

    Somalia

    Eastern Africa

    61.0%

  2. 2

    Afghanistan

    Southern Asia

    48.0%

  3. 3

    Venezuela

    South America

    46.2%

Lowest in 2019

  1. Zimbabwe0.0%
  2. South Africa0.0%
  3. Uruguay0.0%

This statistic has no better end: the two ends describe size, not success.

Highest on each continent

02Every measured country

Arms imports on a map

Each country is shaded by its value, in five groups holding the same number of countries. Hover a country for its value, or select it to open its profile. Below the map, each continent’s middle country.

All regions

Darker is a higher value. This statistic has no better end, so the shades describe size, not success.

  • 0.0%
  • 0.1–0.2%
  • 0.3–0.5%
  • 0.6–1.6%
  • 1.8–61.0%
  • No reading in 2019
  • Asia

    0.6%

    the middle country, of 47 measured · 52 members

    Afghanistan48.0%

    7 share 0.0%

    Highest and lowest reading in Asia.

  • Africa

    0.2%

    the middle country, of 51 measured · 55 members

    Somalia61.0%

    14 share 0.0%

    Highest and lowest reading in Africa.

  • Americas

    0.2%

    the middle country, of 28 measured · 48 members

    Venezuela46.2%

    5 share 0.0%

    Highest and lowest reading in Americas.

  • Europe

    0.1%

    the middle country, of 40 measured · 49 members

    United Kingdom0.8%

    9 share 0.0%

    Highest and lowest reading in Europe.

  • Oceania

    4 of 21 measured — too few for a middle: Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea.

    Australia2.4%

    Papua New Guinea0.0%

    Highest and lowest reading in Oceania.

20 sub-regions, highest middle country first
  • Western Asia

    2.2%

    the middle country, of 17 measured · 19 members

    Syria10.3%

    Cyprus0.0%

    Highest and lowest reading in Western Asia.

  • Northern Africa

    0.9%

    the middle country, of 6 measured · 6 members

    Egypt5.5%

    Sudan0.0%

    Highest and lowest reading in Northern Africa.

  • South-eastern Asia

    0.5%

    the middle country, of 11 measured · 11 members

    Laos2.5%

    Cambodia0.0%

    Highest and lowest reading in South-eastern Asia.

  • Middle Africa

    0.5%

    the middle country, of 8 measured · 9 members

    Angola2.8%

    2 share 0.0%

    Highest and lowest reading in Middle Africa.

  • Eastern Asia

    0.4%

    the middle country, of 6 measured · 8 members

    Japan2.9%

    2 share 0.0%

    Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Asia.

  • Central Asia

    0.4%

    the middle country, of 5 measured · 5 members

    2 share 0.5%

    Turkmenistan0.0%

    Highest and lowest reading in Central Asia.

  • Northern Europe

    0.4%

    the middle country, of 10 measured · 13 members

    United Kingdom0.8%

    2 share 0.0%

    Highest and lowest reading in Northern Europe.

  • Western Africa

    0.3%

    the middle country, of 16 measured · 16 members

    Mauritania3.8%

    4 share 0.0%

    Highest and lowest reading in Western Africa.

  • Southern Asia

    0.3%

    the middle country, of 8 measured · 9 members

    Afghanistan48.0%

    2 share 0.0%

    Highest and lowest reading in Southern Asia.

  • South America

    0.3%

    the middle country, of 12 measured · 12 members

    Venezuela46.2%

    3 share 0.0%

    Highest and lowest reading in South America.

  • Caribbean

    0.2%

    the middle country, of 6 measured · 24 members

    Barbados0.3%

    Jamaica0.0%

    Highest and lowest reading in Caribbean.

  • Central America

    0.2%

    the middle country, of 8 measured · 8 members

    Honduras0.7%

    El Salvador0.0%

    Highest and lowest reading in Central America.

  • Eastern Africa

    0.2%

    the middle country, of 16 measured · 19 members

    Somalia61.0%

    4 share 0.0%

    Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Africa.

  • Eastern Europe

    0.2%

    the middle country, of 10 measured · 10 members

    Belarus0.7%

    Russia0.0%

    Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Europe.

  • Southern Europe

    0.1%

    the middle country, of 13 measured · 17 members

    Greece0.7%

    4 share 0.0%

    Highest and lowest reading in Southern Europe.

  • Western Europe

    0.1%

    the middle country, of 7 measured · 9 members

    Netherlands0.2%

    2 share 0.0%

    Highest and lowest reading in Western Europe.

  • Southern Africa

    0.0%

    the middle country, of 5 measured · 5 members

    Lesotho0.2%

    3 share 0.0%

    Highest and lowest reading in Southern Africa.

  • Australia and New Zealand

    2 of 2 measured — too few for a middle: Australia, New Zealand.

    Australia2.4%

    New Zealand0.5%

    Highest and lowest reading in Australia and New Zealand.

  • Melanesia

    2 of 5 measured — too few for a middle: Fiji, Papua New Guinea.

    Fiji0.5%

    Papua New Guinea0.0%

    Highest and lowest reading in Melanesia.

  • Northern America

    2 of 4 measured — too few for a middle: Canada, United States.

    Canada0.6%

    United States0.2%

    Highest and lowest reading in Northern America.

03The whole field at once

The spread

170 countries, one dot each, on one scale — further right is a higher value. Half the countries are above 0.3%; a quarter are above 0.7%, and a quarter below 0.1%. The bar in each row marks that continent’s middle country.

0%20%40%60%Africa51 comparedSomalia: 61.0%Egypt: 5.5%Mauritania: 3.8%Angola: 2.8%Algeria: 2.7%Djibouti: 2.1%Burkina Faso: 1.6%Chad: 1.6%Uganda: 1.5%Zambia: 1.5%Tunisia: 1.1%Burundi: 0.9%Equatorial Guinea: 0.8%Mali: 0.7%Morocco: 0.7%Niger: 0.7%Senegal: 0.6%Côte d’Ivoire: 0.5%Gabon: 0.5%Togo: 0.5%Cameroon: 0.4%Liberia: 0.4%Kenya: 0.3%Libya: 0.3%Madagascar: 0.3%Central African Republic: 0.2%Ethiopia: 0.2%Ghana: 0.2%Lesotho: 0.2%Botswana: 0.1%Guinea: 0.1%Malawi: 0.1%Mozambique: 0.1%Nigeria: 0.1%Rwanda: 0.1%Sierra Leone: 0.1%South Sudan: 0.1%Benin: 0.0%Cabo Verde: 0.0%DR Congo: 0.0%Eritrea: 0.0%Eswatini: 0.0%Gambia: 0.0%Guinea-Bissau: 0.0%Mauritius: 0.0%Namibia: 0.0%Republic of the Congo: 0.0%South Africa: 0.0%Sudan: 0.0%Tanzania: 0.0%Zimbabwe: 0.0%Benin 0.0%Somalia 61.0%Americas28 comparedVenezuela: 46.2%Colombia: 0.7%Honduras: 0.7%Canada: 0.6%Bolivia: 0.4%Mexico: 0.4%Peru: 0.4%Argentina: 0.3%Barbados: 0.3%Ecuador: 0.3%Belize: 0.2%Brazil: 0.2%Chile: 0.2%Haiti: 0.2%Nicaragua: 0.2%Trinidad and Tobago: 0.2%United States: 0.2%Costa Rica: 0.1%Cuba: 0.1%Dominican Republic: 0.1%Guatemala: 0.1%Panama: 0.1%Paraguay: 0.1%El Salvador: 0.0%Guyana: 0.0%Jamaica: 0.0%Suriname: 0.0%Uruguay: 0.0%El Salvador 0.0%Venezuela 46.2%Asia47 comparedAfghanistan: 48.0%Syria: 10.3%Saudi Arabia: 8.6%Qatar: 8.5%Iraq: 7.0%Armenia: 4.9%Oman: 4.2%Israel: 3.8%Japan: 2.9%Jordan: 2.6%South Korea: 2.6%Laos: 2.5%Pakistan: 2.5%United Arab Emirates: 2.2%Türkiye: 2.1%Kuwait: 1.8%Myanmar: 1.4%Brunei: 1.2%Bahrain: 1.0%Azerbaijan: 0.8%India: 0.7%Philippines: 0.7%Singapore: 0.7%Taiwan: 0.6%Indonesia: 0.5%Kyrgyzstan: 0.5%Tajikistan: 0.5%Thailand: 0.5%Georgia: 0.4%Lebanon: 0.4%Uzbekistan: 0.4%Yemen: 0.4%Bangladesh: 0.3%Mongolia: 0.3%Nepal: 0.3%Malaysia: 0.2%Kazakhstan: 0.1%Sri Lanka: 0.1%Timor-Leste: 0.1%Vietnam: 0.1%Bhutan: 0.0%Cambodia: 0.0%China: 0.0%Cyprus: 0.0%Iran: 0.0%North Korea: 0.0%Turkmenistan: 0.0%Bhutan 0.0%Afghanistan 48.0%Europe40 comparedUnited Kingdom: 0.8%Belarus: 0.7%Greece: 0.7%Norway: 0.7%Estonia: 0.5%Italy: 0.5%Serbia: 0.5%Denmark: 0.4%Sweden: 0.4%Ukraine: 0.4%Croatia: 0.3%Finland: 0.3%Latvia: 0.3%Poland: 0.3%Hungary: 0.2%Lithuania: 0.2%Netherlands: 0.2%Portugal: 0.2%Romania: 0.2%Albania: 0.1%Belgium: 0.1%Bulgaria: 0.1%Czechia: 0.1%France: 0.1%Germany: 0.1%Kosovo: 0.1%Malta: 0.1%Moldova: 0.1%Slovakia: 0.1%Spain: 0.1%Switzerland: 0.1%Austria: 0.0%Bosnia and Herzegovina: 0.0%Iceland: 0.0%Ireland: 0.0%Luxembourg: 0.0%Montenegro: 0.0%North Macedonia: 0.0%Russia: 0.0%Slovenia: 0.0%Austria 0.0% · United Kingdom 0.8%Oceania4 comparedAustralia: 2.4%Fiji: 0.5%New Zealand: 0.5%Papua New Guinea: 0.0%Papua New Guinea 0.0% · Australia 2.4%middle country 0.3%

04All 170 ever measured

Every country

In order, highest value first. No rank or position is shown: too many countries share the same value for an order to mean anything. Neither end is better: a large share can mean a war, an ally supplying weapons, or simply very little other trade. The share can pass 100%, because the report values every delivery whether or not it was paid for — much of the arms trade is given as aid or on credit — while the total it is divided by counts ordinary trade.

The raw table

Showing 25 of 170 countries

  1. SomaliaEastern Africa61.0%
  2. AfghanistanSouthern Asia48.0%
  3. VenezuelaSouth America46.2%
  4. SyriaWestern Asia10.3%
  5. Saudi ArabiaWestern Asia8.6%
  6. QatarWestern Asia8.5%
  7. IraqWestern Asia7.0%
  8. EgyptNorthern Africa5.5%
  9. ArmeniaWestern Asia4.9%
  10. OmanWestern Asia4.2%
  11. IsraelWestern Asia3.8%
  12. MauritaniaWestern Africa3.8%
  13. JapanEastern Asia2.9%
  14. AngolaMiddle Africa2.8%
  15. AlgeriaNorthern Africa2.7%
  16. JordanWestern Asia2.6%
  17. South KoreaEastern Asia2.6%
  18. LaosSouth-eastern Asia2.5%
  19. PakistanSouthern Asia2.5%
  20. AustraliaAustralia and New Zealand2.4%
  21. United Arab EmiratesWestern Asia2.2%
  22. DjiboutiEastern Africa2.1%
  23. TürkiyeWestern Asia2.1%
  24. KuwaitWestern Asia1.8%
  25. Burkina FasoWestern Africa1.6%

Values for 2019. The change column compares 2019 with 2018 only; the sparkline covers the recent editions.

052009–2019 · 11 reference years

Over time

Each point is one year from 2009 to 2019, all from the report's final edition; the series will not be updated. The dollar value of the arms delivered is stored beside the share.

0.2%0.4%0.6%0.8%1%2009169 ctys2010169 ctys2011169 ctys2012170 ctys2013170 ctys2014170 ctys2015170 ctys2016170 ctys2017170 ctys2018170 ctys2019170 ctysAsiaAfricaAmericasEurope2009: middle country 0.3% of 1692010: middle country 0.3% of 1692011: middle country 0.3% of 1692012: middle country 0.3% of 1702013: middle country 0.3% of 1702014: middle country 0.3% of 1702015: middle country 0.3% of 1702016: middle country 0.3% of 1702017: middle country 0.3% of 1702018: middle country 0.2% of 1702019: middle country 0.3% of 170
  • the middle country
  • the middle half of countries
  • the middle of the 169 countries measured every time
  • each continent’s middle country
The same, year by year
YearCountriesMiddle countryMiddle halfMeasured every time
20191700.3%0.1% – 0.7%0.3%
20181700.2%0.1% – 0.6%0.2%
20171700.3%0.1% – 0.7%0.3%
20161700.3%0.1% – 0.9%0.3%
20151700.3%0.1% – 0.8%0.3%
20141700.3%0.1% – 0.9%0.3%
20131700.3%0.1% – 0.8%0.3%
20121700.3%0.1% – 1.0%0.3%
20111690.3%0.1% – 1.0%0.3%
20101690.3%0.1% – 1.0%0.3%
20091690.3%0.1% – 0.9%0.3%

062018 → 2019

Who rose and fell

The biggest changes in value between the two newest editions — reference years recalculated in one report, not two separate publications. Places are shown second, because they also move when other countries do.

Rose most

before → after
  1. Venezuela14.2% → 46.2%+32.0
  2. Qatar3.0% → 8.5%+5.5
  3. Afghanistan43.8% → 48.0%+4.2
  4. Mauritania0.6% → 3.8%+3.2
  5. Laos0.0% → 2.5%+2.5

Fell most

before → after
  1. Somalia375.2% → 61.0%−314.2
  2. Syria30.0% → 10.3%−19.7
  3. Iraq11.8% → 7.0%−4.8
  4. Azerbaijan3.8% → 0.8%−3.0
  5. Algeria5.3% → 2.7%−2.6

170 countries were measured in both 2018 and 2019.

07Across every edition

Arms imports in records

The extremes of the statistic. A record reached by more than one country names none of them.

08The measure

About arms imports

What share of each country's imports are weapons and military services, valued in U.S. dollars by the State Department's World Military Expenditures and Arms Transfers report. The report's final edition, published in 2021, covers 2009 to 2019.

What the number is: Arms imports (% of all imports of goods and services).

09Where it fits

Connections

Its part in the Country Index, the statistics whose values line up most closely with it across countries, and others on the same subject.

All statistics

In the Country Index

Context, with no vote

This statistic is published in full under Peace & Security, but does not help decide any Country Index standing.

Peace & SecurityWhich statistics vote, and why

Moves with

Where arms imports is higher, these tend to be higher too.

Moves against

Where arms imports is higher, these tend to be lower.

No statistic lines up this closely.

Rank correlation (ρ, from −1 to 1) across countries, on each statistic’s newest edition, out of 309 statistics sharing at least 80 countries with this one. Two statistics that move together do not cause each other.

On the same subject

10Keep reading

Explore further

The subject

More from U.S. Department of State

11Questions

Arms imports: questions and answers

Which country has the highest arms imports?

Somalia, at 61.0%, among the 170 countries compared in 2019.

Which country has the lowest arms imports?

36 countries share the lowest reading, 0.0%, among the 170 compared in 2019, so no single country is named.

How many countries does the Arms Imports (% of total imports) cover?

170 in 2019. The number measured varies from 169 to 170 between editions.

What is the world average arms imports?

This site does not calculate a world average, which would depend on how countries are weighted. In the middle country of the 170 compared in 2019, the figure was 0.3%.

Is this U.S. Department of State’s own ranking?

No ranking is shown. U.S. Department of State publishes values only, and too many countries share the same value for an ordering to mean anything, so none is derived.

How often is the Arms Imports (% of total imports) published?

This site holds 11 reference years, 2009–2019, all recalculated in U.S. Department of State’s 2021 report on one method — not 11 separate publications.

Where does the data come from, and can I download it?

From U.S. Department of State, under Public domain (U.S. Government work). From Table II.d of the State Department's World Military Expenditures and Arms Transfers 2021, a U.S. Government work in the public domain, stored as the report prints it. The total imports the share is divided by come from the IMF by way of the World Bank and are not reproduced here. Every edition is on this site’s Datasets pages as a full table, and downloads as a CSV file with every value unrounded.

12Method

Sources, method and citation

Source

Arms Imports (% of total imports) — U.S. Department of State

From Table II.d of the State Department's World Military Expenditures and Arms Transfers 2021, a U.S. Government work in the public domain, stored as the report prints it. The total imports the share is divided by come from the IMF by way of the World Bank and are not reproduced here.

Newest edition

Report year 2019Data year 2019

Cite the source as: U.S. Department of State. World Military Expenditures and Arms Transfers 2021, Table II.d. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of State, December 2021.

Licence: Public domain (U.S. Government work), checked 2026-09-29.

The full 2019 table, row for row

How this page reads the numbers

  • No rank or position is shown: U.S. Department of State publishes values only, and too many countries share the same value for an ordering to mean anything.
  • This statistic has no better end, so the page describes higher and lower values and never calls a country a leader.
  • A country is named at an end only when it holds that value alone. Where several share it, the page says how many and names none first.
  • Values are stored exactly as published and trimmed only for display. “The middle country” is the median of the countries measured, not a world average.

The file itself, column by column — where it came from, what each column holds, and every edition as a CSV — is on its dataset page.

Cite this page

Nations Inquiry (2026). Arms imports by country: Arms Imports (% of total imports), data from U.S. Department of State. https://nationsinquiry.com/statistics/arms-imports

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