Commentary
Some of the world’s largest arms buyers are in Asia. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) confirms that Asia (including the Indian subcontinent and Oceania) has remained the world’s single largest arms market for the past several decades.
According to the report, Asia accounted for a plurality (43 percent) of all international arms transfers for the period 2017-2021, easily outpacing the Middle East (the world’s other large arms market) at 32 percent and dwarfing Africa (5.8 percent) and the Americas (5.5 percent).
According to SIPRI, during the period 2017-2021, six of the ten biggest arms importers were in the region: India, China, Australia, Pakistan, South Korea, and Japan. India, in fact, alone accounted for 11 percent of all arms transfers during this period, maintaining its position as the world’s largest arms buyer for the past several years (and just ahead of Saudi Arabia)….