North America's arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values) was 828 million in 2025, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is down 6.97% from 890 million in 2015 (0.72% a year on average, compounded).
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 828 million | 2025 |
| Five years earlier | 1.05 billion | 2020 |
| Ten years earlier | 890 million | 2015 |
| Highest | 2.79 billion | 1987 |
| Lowest | 325 million | 1967 |
| Average since 2016 | 962 million | 2016–2025 |
| First recorded | 352 million |
What the numbers say
In 2025, North America's arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values) fell 33.8% on 2024 (from 1.25 billion to 828 million).
Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was +5.2% and a typical year strayed about 38.2% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.0 standard deviations below that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.
On record, the biggest yearly rise was 404% in 1961 and the biggest yearly fall was 71.4% in 1990. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.
From 2016 to 2025 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 24% of the movement over 10 observed years, so the value is moving around more than it is heading anywhere.
Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.
How it compares
See how every economy compares in the full ranking.
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| North America | 828 million | 2025 |
| World | 33.33 billion | 2025 |
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 66 values
| Year | Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values) |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 828,000,000 |
| 2024 | 1,251,000,000 |
| 2023 | 964,000,000 |
| 2022 | 1,060,000,000 |
| 2021 | 1,279,000,000 |
| 2020 | 1,054,000,000 |
| 2019 | 1,069,000,000 |
| 2018 | 564,000,000 |
| 2017 | 858,000,000 |
| 2016 | 693,000,000 |
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 North America
- Military expenditure (current USD) — 991.88 billion (2025)
- Military expenditure (% of GDP) — 3.01% (2025)
- Arms exports (SIPRI trend indicator values) — 14.29 billion (2025)
- Net incurrence of liabilities, total (% of GDP) — 6.89% (2024)
- Net investment in nonfinancial assets (% of GDP) — 1.41% (2024)
- Net lending (+) / net borrowing (-) (% of GDP) — -6.67% (2024)
- Grants and other revenue (% of revenue) — 5.43% (2024)
- Social contributions (% of revenue) — 29.97% (2024)
- Revenue, excluding grants (% of GDP) — 17.96% (2024)
Reading data like this
Questions people ask
- What is North America's arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values)?
- 828 million in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 1960?
- It is up 135.23% from 352 million in 1960 (1.32% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 2.79 billion in 1987 and the lowest 325 million in 1967.
- Is the latest change in arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values) unusual for North America?
- In 2025, North America's arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values) fell 33.8% on 2024 (from 1.25 billion to 828 million). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was +5.2% and a typical year strayed about 38.2% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.0 standard deviations below that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.
- Where does this data come from?
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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