Qatar remain among the top arms importer in 2022, despite global attention on arms shipments to Ukraine amid Russia’s invasion, according to a report published on Monday by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri).
“Even as arms transfers have declined globally, those to Europe have risen sharply due to the tensions between Russia and most other European states,” said Pieter D Wezeman, a senior researcher with the Sipri arms transfers programme, according to a Sipri press statement.
“Arms imports to East Asia have increased and those to the Middle East remain at a high level,” Wezeman said.
Arms from the US and European countries poured into Ukraine, following Russia’s February 2022 invasion of the country.
US also top arms importer
The US alone has provided Ukraine with approximately $27.5 bn in military assistance since the beginning of the Biden administration. Kyiv was the third largest importer of arms globally in 2022.
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Qatar, a gas-rich country of just three million people, holds the top spot as the world’s biggest arms importer as of last year. Shipments of weapons to the country increased by 311 percent between 2013-17 and 2018-22.
Doha is one of the world’s largest producers of natural gas. Along with neighboring Gulf states, its global heft has swelled amid an energy crunch exacerbated by Russia’s Ukraine invasion.
In January, Qatar has designated a major non-Nato ally by US President Joe Biden, opening the path for more arms purchases from the US.
In November, the US State Department approved the potential sale of a $1bn anti-drone system to Qatar.
Other Middle Eastern states have not been left out. Saudi Arabia was the world’s second-largest arms importer in 2018–22, receiving 9.6 percent of all global arms imports.
Egypt, which is facing a debilitating economic crisis that has prevented the import of basic goods, ranked sixth globally for arms imports during that same period.
