Korea, Dem. People's Rep.: Arms exports (SIPRI trend indicator values)

Key figures

Since 1974 it is up 450% from 8 million in 1974 (3.4% a year on average, compounded). The World Bank has no value for 14 of the years in between; the chart leaves those gaps open rather than joining across them.

What the numbers say

In 2025, Korea, Dem. People's Rep.'s arms exports (SIPRI trend indicator values) fell 79.1% on 2024 (from 211 million to 44 million).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1982 to 2024), the average change was +136.9% and a typical year strayed about 473.7% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.5 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 2,244.4% in 2024 and the biggest yearly fall was 90.8% in 1990. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

How it compares

In 2025, Korea, Dem. People's Rep. had the 31st highest value of the 42 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.

Closest to Korea, Dem. People's Rep. in the 2025 ranking

• Iran, Islamic Rep. — 28th of 42: 80 million
• Singapore — 29th of 42: 79 million
• Poland — 30th of 42: 59 million
• Serbia — 32nd of 42: 39 million
• Kyrgyz Republic — 33rd of 42: 34 million
• United Arab Emirates — 34th of 42: 33 million

What this measures

Arms transfers (exports) cover the volume of transfers of major arms through sales and gifts, and those made through manufacturing licenses. Data cover major conventional weapons such as aircraft, armored vehicles, artillery, radar systems, missiles, and ships. Figures are SIPRI Trend Indicator Values (TIVs). A '0' indicates that the volume of deliveries is between 0 and 0.5 million SIPRI TIV.

Limitations: SIPRI calculates the volume of transfers to, from and between all parties using the TIV and the number of weapon systems or subsystems delivered in a given year. This data is intended to provide a common unit to allow the measurement if trends in the flow of arms to particular countries and regions over time. Therefore, the main priority is to ensure that the TIV system remains consistent over time, and that any changes introduced are backdated. SIPRI TIV figures do not represent sales prices for arms transfers.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a sum.

All 38 values

Arms exports (SIPRI trend indicator values) in nearby economies

• Australia — 108 million (2025)
• China — 880 million (2025)
• Indonesia — 17 million (2021)
• Japan — 28 million (2025)
• Korea, Rep. — 2.02 billion (2025)
• New Zealand — 20 million (2023)
• Singapore — 79 million (2025)

More public sector data for Korea, Dem. People's Rep.

• Armed forces personnel, total — 1.47 million (2020)
• Armed forces personnel (% of total labor force) — 8.62% (2020)
• Military expenditure (current LCU) — 216.6 billion (2018)
• Statistical performance indicators (SPI): Pillar 1 data use score (scale 0-100) — 10 (2024)
• Statistical performance indicators (SPI): Pillar 3 data products score (scale 0-100) — 46.56 (2024)
• Internally displaced persons, new displacement associated with disasters (number of cases) — 200 (2022)

Every indicator for Korea, Dem. People's Rep. is on the Korea, Dem. People's Rep. data page.

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Korea, Dem. People's Rep.'s arms exports (SIPRI trend indicator values)?

44 million in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1974?

It is up 450% from 8 million in 1974 (3.4% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 231 million in 1983 and the lowest 1 million in 2014.

How does Korea, Dem. People's Rep. rank?

31st highest of 42 economies with data for 2025.

Is the latest change in arms exports (SIPRI trend indicator values) unusual for Korea, Dem. People's Rep.?

In 2025, Korea, Dem. People's Rep.'s arms exports (SIPRI trend indicator values) fell 79.1% on 2024 (from 211 million to 44 million). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1982 to 2024), the average change was +136.9% and a typical year strayed about 473.7% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.5 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator MS.MIL.XPRT.KD, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Arms Transfers Programme, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), uri: https://armstransfers.sipri.org/ArmsTransfer/ Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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