Nepal: Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values)

Key figures

Since 1965 it is up 200% from 2 million in 1965 (1.85% a year on average, compounded). 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 31 million in 2019 and the biggest yearly fall was 29 million in 2005. 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, Nepal had the 87th highest value of the 105 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 Nepal in the 2025 ranking

• North Macedonia — 85th of 105: 9 million
• Tunisia — 86th of 105: 7 million
• Guinea — 87th of 105: 6 million
• Ghana — 89th of 105: 5 million
• Guyana — 90th of 105: 5 million
• Togo — 91st of 105: 5 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 30 values

Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values) in nearby economies

• Bangladesh — 32 million (2025)
• India — 2.86 billion (2025)
• Maldives — 11 million (2025)
• Sri Lanka — 11 million (2025)

More public sector data for Nepal

• Military expenditure (current USD) — 428.29 million (2025)
• Military expenditure (current LCU) — 59.7 billion (2025)
• Military expenditure (% of GDP) — 0.97% (2025)
• Grants and other revenue (current LCU) — 161.95 billion (2023)
• Grants and other revenue (% of revenue) — 17.79% (2023)
• Revenue, excluding grants (current LCU) — 887.36 billion (2023)
• Revenue, excluding grants (% of GDP) — 16.53% (2023)
• Taxes on exports (current LCU) — 350.12 million (2023)
• Taxes on exports (% of tax revenue) — 0.05% (2023)
• Taxes on goods and services (current LCU) — 345.78 billion (2023)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

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

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

How has it changed since 1965?

It is up 200% from 2 million in 1965 (1.85% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 38 million in 2019 and the lowest 0 in 1966.

How does Nepal rank?

87th highest of 105 economies with data for 2025.

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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