In 2024, total imports of Russian arms in China were estimated at approximately 30 million trend-indicator values (TIV). Russia is the most important weapons supplier for China and accounted for 79 percent of all Chinese arms imports between 2000 and 2024. The TIV is based on the known unit production costs of a core set of weapons and is intended to represent the transfer of military resources rather than the financial value of the transfer.The depicted import value is only an indicator and does not correspond to the actual financial value of the transfers.

India was the leading recipient of arms transfers from Russia in 2024. Indian imports of Russian arms reached 463 million trade-indicator values (TIV). Furthermore, China received 30 million TIV of arms from Russia in that year. The TIV is a unit developed by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) based on known unit production costs of core weapons. It is intended to represent the transfer of military resources rather than the financial value of the transfer.

Russia is the main supplier of major arms to India, China, Algeria, and Kazakhstan. Notably, Russia accounted for 88 percent of the weapon imports of Kazakhstan’s between 2020 and 2024. Russia inherited its arms manufacturing sector from the Soviet Union, for which weapons were one of the major export categories. To which markets does Russia export weapons? Throughout 2023, India, China, and Belarus were the top recipients of major arms from Russia. India accounted for roughly one-third of Russia’s arms exports from 2019 to 2023. However, Russia’s export volumes to these and some other countries were lower than in the previous year. The decrease in supplies to India was facilitated by the country’s government’s initiatives to strengthen public defense manufacturing capabilities, which resulted in the recent years’ output growth. Russia's role in global arms exports Between 2020 and 2024, Russia's share in global arms exports stood at nearly eight percent. This represents a decline from the period between 2015 and 2019, when Russia accounted for over a fifth of weapon exports. The decrease accelerated during the Russia-Ukraine war that began in February 2022. Nevertheless, Russia ranked among the leading arms exporters worldwide, with its portion in weapon shipments worldwide only falling behind those of the United States and France.

The United States had a market share of over 40 percent in international arms exports between 2020 and 2024. The second-largest suppliers of major weapons worldwide were France and Russia, accounting for 10 and eight percent of exports over the observed period, respectively. The United States, Russia, and France contributed 60 percent of major weapons exports between 2020 and 2024. Leading military spending countries Three decades after the end of the Cold War and the fall of the USSR, the United States is, by far, the largest defense spender in the world, even though the U.S. defense outlays have decreased since the peak of the Iraq and Afghan wars. However, China has increased military spending in the past decade, becoming the second-largest spender in the world, signaling a possible shift in the global balance of military power, and several European NATO members have increased military spending significantly after the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war. Leading military importers Meanwhile, the market share of imports shows India and Saudi Arabia are the largest buyers. Saudi Arabia also spends the third most on its military as a percentage of gross domestic product, with Ukraine first.

In 2024, total arms imports in China were estimated at approximately 72 million trend-indicator values (TIV). Russia is the most important weapons exporter for China and accounted for 79 percent of all Chinese arms imports between 2000 and 2024. The TIV is based on the known unit production costs of a core set of weapons and is intended to represent the transfer of military resources rather than the financial value of the transfer.The depicted import value is only an indicator and does not correspond to the actual financial value of the transfers.

In 2023, Lockheed Martin was the world's largest arms-producing and military services company, with arms sales amounting to over 60 billion U.S. dollars. Arms sales constituted 90 percent of total company sales in that year. RTX and Boeing followed on the places behind. Except for three European companies and one Russian, all the largest arms dealers in the world were either based in the Untied States or China. Worsening security landscape drives global military spending With the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, and rising tensions between China and the United States, particularly concerning the status of Taiwan, global military spending reached new records in 2023. Whereas global military spending remained stable during the 2010s, it has increased annually the last years. Leading military spenders The United States is, by far, the largest military spender in the world, spending three times as much as China in second. In terms of share of the gross domestic product (GDP), Ukraine is the leading military spender, which must be seen in light of its war with Russia.