Malta: Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values)

Key figures

The World Bank has no value for 31 of the years in between; the chart leaves those gaps open rather than joining across them.

What the numbers say

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 14 million in 2005 and the biggest yearly fall was 6 million in 1998. 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 2023, Malta had the 4th highest value of the 13 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 Malta in the 2023 ranking

• Venezuela, RB — 1st of 13: 98 million
• Cambodia — 2nd of 13: 56 million
• Kyrgyz Republic — 3rd of 13: 54 million
• Central African Republic — 5th of 13: 43 million
• Rwanda — 6th of 13: 37 million
• Switzerland — 7th of 13: 33 million

What this measures

Arms transfers (imports) 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 21 values

Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values) in nearby economies

• Afghanistan — 65 million (2021)
• Algeria — 108 million (2025)
• Bahrain — 30 million (2025)
• Djibouti — 0 (2023)
• Egypt, Arab Rep. — 697 million (2025)
• Iran, Islamic Rep. — 42 million (2024)
• Iraq — 55 million (2025)
• Israel — 537 million (2025)
• Jordan — 34 million (2024)
• Kuwait — 311 million (2025)

More public sector data for Malta

• Net investment in nonfinancial assets (current LCU) — 733.7 million (2024)
• Net investment in nonfinancial assets (% of GDP) — 3.17% (2024)
• Net lending (+) / net borrowing (-) (current LCU) — -808.4 million (2024)
• Net lending (+) / net borrowing (-) (% of GDP) — -3.49% (2024)
• Social contributions (current LCU) — 1.17 billion (2024)
• Social contributions (% of revenue) — 15.26% (2024)
• Revenue, excluding grants (current LCU) — 7.69 billion (2024)
• Revenue, excluding grants (% of GDP) — 33.22% (2024)
• Taxes on goods and services (current LCU) — 2.18 billion (2024)
• Taxes on goods and services (% of revenue)

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
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Questions people ask

What is Malta's arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values)?

45 million in 2023, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How does Malta rank?

4th highest of 13 economies with data for 2023.

Where does this data come from?

The World Bank's World Development Indicators, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Arms Transfers Programme, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), uri: https://armstransfers.sipri.org/ArmsTransfer/.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator MS.MIL.MPRT.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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