A new report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute revealed that “Morocco’s imports of heavy weapons decreased by 20% during 2022,” ranking 29th in the world in terms of arms imports.
“Between 2018 and 2022, imports of heavy weapons by Morocco and Algeria decreased by 20% and 58%, respectively,” the report said, noting that “Egypt ranked first in Africa, followed by Algeria and then Morocco.”
The same source added that Morocco and Algeria are still among the countries that spend the most on arms in the African continent, indicating a decrease in arms transfers to Africa by 40%, the Americas by 21%, Asia and Oceania by 7.5%, and the Middle East by 8.8%, between the two periods.
But imports to East Asia and certain countries in other regions of severe geopolitical tension rose sharply.
The international report monitored an increase in imports of major arms by European countries by 47% between 2013-2017 and 2018-2022, while the global level of international arms transfers decreased by 5.1%.
The US share of global arms exports increased from 33 to 40%, while Russia’s share fell from 22 to 16%, according to new data on global arms transfers published by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
The war in Ukraine is likely to further limit Russian arms exports. This is because Russia will prioritize supplying its armed forces and demand from other countries will remain low due to trade sanctions on Moscow and increased pressure from the United States and its allies not to buy Russian weapons.
France’s arms exports increased by 44% between 2013-2017 and 2018-2022. Most of these exports were to countries in Asia, Oceania and the Middle East.
India received 30% of French arms exports from 2018 to 2022, and France has replaced the United States as the second largest arms supplier to India after Russia.
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