South Asia's arms exports (SIPRI trend indicator values) was 81 million in 2025, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is up 92.86% from 42 million in 2015 (6.79% a year on average, compounded).
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 81 million | 2025 |
| Five years earlier | 153 million | 2020 |
| Ten years earlier | 42 million | 2015 |
| Highest | 153 million | 2020 |
| Lowest | 0 | 2002 |
| Average since 2016 | 60.2 million | 2016–2025 |
| First recorded | 1 million |
What the numbers say
In 2025, South Asia's arms exports (SIPRI trend indicator values) fell 13 million on 2024 (from 94 million to 81 million).
Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1972 to 2024), the average change was +2.4 million and a typical year strayed about 36.03 million from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.4 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 133 million in 2020 and the biggest yearly fall was 99 million in 2021. 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 3% 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 | |
|---|---|---|
| South Asia | 81 million | 2025 |
| World | 33.54 billion | 2025 |
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 40 values
| Year | Arms exports (SIPRI trend indicator values) |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 81,000,000 |
| 2024 | 94,000,000 |
| 2023 | 41,000,000 |
| 2022 | 7,000,000 |
| 2021 | 54,000,000 |
| 2020 | 153,000,000 |
| 2019 | 20,000,000 |
| 2018 | 47,000,000 |
| 2017 | 56,000,000 |
| 2016 | 49,000,000 |
| 2015 |
Arms exports (SIPRI trend indicator values) in nearby economies
- Egypt, Arab Rep. — 2 million (2024)
- Iran, Islamic Rep. — 80 million (2025)
- Israel — 2.62 billion (2025)
- Jordan — 226 million (2024)
- Libya — 0 (2016)
- Pakistan — 127 million (2025)
- Qatar — 2 million (2025)
- Saudi Arabia — 3 million (2023)
- United Arab Emirates — 33 million (2025)
More public sector data for South Asia
- Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values) — 2.92 billion (2025)
- Military expenditure (current USD) — 97.7 billion (2025)
- Military expenditure (% of GDP) — 2.11% (2025)
- Net acquisition of financial assets (% of GDP) — 1.47% (2022)
- Net incurrence of liabilities, total (% of GDP) — 6.88% (2022)
- Net investment in nonfinancial assets (% of GDP) — 0.95% (2022)
- Net lending (+) / net borrowing (-) (% of GDP) — -5.4% (2022)
- Revenue, excluding grants (% of GDP) — 9.34% (2022)
- Tax revenue (% of GDP) — 6.95% (2022)
- Expense (% of GDP)
Reading data like this
Questions people ask
- What is South Asia's arms exports (SIPRI trend indicator values)?
- 81 million in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 1968?
- It is up 8,000% from 1 million in 1968 (8.01% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 153 million in 2020 and the lowest 0 in 2002.
- Is the latest change in arms exports (SIPRI trend indicator values) unusual for South Asia?
- In 2025, South Asia's arms exports (SIPRI trend indicator values) fell 13 million on 2024 (from 94 million to 81 million). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1972 to 2024), the average change was +2.4 million and a typical year strayed about 36.03 million from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.4 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.
- Where does this data come from?
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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