Germany hits record arms exports, driven by Ukraine conflict
Germany recorded a record number of arms exports in 2024, reaching a value of 14.0 billion dollars. Due to the ongoing conflict with Russia, Ukraine was the main recipient.
9:06 PM EST, December 18, 2024
According to the federal Ministry of Economy, this data covers the period from January 1 to December 17. The value of this year's arms exports, as reported by the magazine "Stern," thus exceeded the previous record from 2023, when export licenses worth 12.9 billion dollars were issued.
Ukraine as the main recipient
The high level of arms exports is connected to the ongoing war in Ukraine. As the main recipient of German military equipment, Ukraine received licenses to import arms worth 8.6 billion dollars in total, accounting for 62 percent of all German exports this year.
The Ministry of Economy explained that the German government financed most of this amount. For comparison, in 2023, arms export licenses to Ukraine amounted to 4.7 billion dollars.
