Fewer arms exports approved

The permits for arms exports fell further at the beginning of the year, after having already decreased in 2020. The largest buyer of German war weapons was a country that has been criticized for violating human rights.

The federal government approved fewer arms exports in the first three months of this year than in the same period last year. According to a response from the Federal Ministry of Economics to a request from left-wing politician Sevim Dagdelen, deliveries worth 978 million euros were approved in the first three months of this year, 16 percent less than in the first quarter of 2020. Deliveries to so-called third countries that do not belong to the EU or NATO or are equivalent to these countries, such as Australia, fell even more sharply. Their value fell by 43 percent from 615 to 353 million euros. The Gulf emirate of Qatar, which has been heavily criticized for human rights violations, continues to be well ahead among the recipients of war weapons such as tanks, guns or fighter planes. With permits worth 31.4 million euros, it was even the most important export country for German armaments in the first quarter, ahead of Brazil (16.1 million euros) and Belgium (10.7 million euros). In terms of other armaments, the USA (268 million) are ahead of Great Britain (78.1 million euros) and Ecuador (71.6 million euros).

Sharp decline as early as 2020

If the trend of declining permits continues until the end of the year, it would build on the figures from last year. The Federal Government does not provide any information about ongoing approval procedures, including possible decisions. According to the preliminary figures presented by the German government in January, licenses for the export of armaments worth 5.82 billion euros were granted last year. In the previous year 2019 the value was still 8.02 billion euros. Almost half of this was accounted for by deliveries to EU / NATO and NATO-equivalent countries that have a particularly close security partnership with Germany, such as Israel. Last year, NATO member Hungary was by far the largest buyer of German armaments worth 838 million euros.

Ships for Egypt

For third countries, export licenses worth 2.9 billion euros were issued last year. This value is also declining, as it was still 3.5 billion euros in 2019. According to the Federal Ministry of Economics, more than half of the exports concerned “major orders for the maritime sector”. Almost all of these are underwater and surface ships for Egypt worth 760 million euros. This made Egypt the second largest buyer of German armaments last year, ahead of Israel and the United States. The federal government does not usually submit quarterly reports on the licensing of military equipment. Instead, an annual arms export report is presented to the Bundestag before the summer break, followed by a semi-annual report in autumn. German companies that want to export armaments always need a permit for their export.