World's largest arms exporters

Units are in Trend Indicator Values expressed as millions of U.S. dollars at 1990s prices. These numbers may not represent real financial flows as prices for the underlying arms can be as low as zero in the case of military aid. The following are estimates from Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.^[15]

2010–2018 Rank	Supplier	Arms Exp
1	United States	86,233
2	Russia	61,308
3	France	15,022
4	Germany	15,021
5	China	13,926
6	United Kingdom	10,922
7	Spain	7,658
8	Israel	6,583
9	Italy	6,462
10	Netherlands	5,211

Sgraffito at the Lambert Sevart weapons factory, in Liege (Belgium) (early 20th century).

Note that rankings for exporters below a billion dollars are less meaningful, as they can be swayed by single contracts. A much more accurate picture of export volume, free from yearly fluctuations, is presented by 5-year moving averages.

Next to SIPRI there are several other sources that provide data on international transfers of arms. These include national reports by national governments about arms exports, the UN register on conventional arms and an annual publication by the U.S. Congressional Research Service that includes data on arms exports to developing countries as compiled by U.S. intelligence agencies. A list of such sources can be found at the SIPRI website.^[16] Due to the different methodologies and definitions used different sources often provide significantly different data.