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Türkiye has vaulted to 11th place among global arms exporters, more than doubling its market share to 1.8% between 2021 and 2025. According to new SIPRI data, the 122% surge in exports coincides with a 9.7% drop in arms imports.
Türkiye's main arms export recipients in 2021-25 were Pakistan, which received 16% of Türkiye's total exports, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at 12% and Ukraine at 8.4%.
The figures reflect the growing international demand for Turkish-made defense products, including armed unmanned aerial vehicles, across multiple conflict zones and strategic partnerships.
As the world's 24th largest arms importer, Türkiye sourced 31% of its imports from the United States and 29% from Spain in 2021-25, representing a 9.7% decrease in import volume compared to the previous five-year period.
Türkiye also appears as a supplier to Saudi Arabia, receiving 16% of Spain's arms exports and ranking as Spain's second-largest recipient.
The five largest arms suppliers, the U.S., France, Russia, Germany and China, accounted for 70% of all arms exports in 2021-25.
The U.S. supplied 42% of all international arms transfers, up from 36% in 2016-20. Russia was the only top-10 supplier to see its exports fall, dropping 64% as its share shrank from 21% to 6.8%.
Israel rose to become the world's seventh-largest arms exporter with a 4.4% share, overtaking the United Kingdom for the first time ever.
"Despite conducting the war in Gaza and attacks in Iran, Lebanon, Qatar, Syria and Yemen, Israel still managed to increase its share of global arms exports," said Zain Hussain, researcher with the SIPRI Arms Transfers Programme.
Global arms transfers increased by nearly 10% between 2016-20 and 2021-25, overwhelmingly driven by deliveries to Ukraine and European states.
Europe became the largest arms-importing region, receiving 33% of global arms imports, up 210% from the previous period.
In the Middle East, arms imports fell by 13% overall. Three of the world's top 10 arms importers were in the region: Saudi Arabia at 6.8% of global imports, Qatar at 6.4% and Kuwait at 2.8%.
More than half of Middle East arms imports came from the U.S. at 54%. Qatar's arms imports grew by 106% in 2021-25, with its imports including 100 combat aircraft, 48 from the U.S., 33 from the U.K., 13 from France and six from Italy, as well as five major warships from Italy. Kuwait's arms imports increased by more than nine times, 805%, moving it from 47th to the ninth largest importer globally.
Iran's imports of major arms accounted for 0.2% of total arms imports by states in the Middle East in 2021-25, with Russia as its only supplier of major arms.
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