Ukraine becomes the world's third-largest arms importer in 2022

Ukraine becomes the world's third-largest arms importer in 2022

A study by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) says that from 1991 to the end of 2021, Ukraine imported a small number of major weapons.

As a result of military assistance from the United States and European countries following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Ukraine became the third-largest importer of major arms in 2022 (after Qatar and India) and the 14th biggest for 2018-2022. 

"Ukraine accounted for 2.0% of global arms imports over the five-year period," the SIPRI report says.

In general, imports of major arms by European countries increased by 47% between 2013-2017 and 2018-2022, while the global level of international arms transfers decreased by 5.1%.