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Arms Exports - United States

Name the countries that import the most weaponry from the United States.
For the ten-year period, 2013–2022
According to SIPRI
Quiz by Gamer1162
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Last updated: September 24, 2023
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First submittedJune 11, 2017
Times taken46,160
Average score72.7%
Rating4.62
3:30
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Imports
Recipient
19.0 bil
Saudi Arabia
7.73 bil
Australia
6.42 bil
Japan
5.92 bil
United Arab Emirates
5.32 bil
South Korea
5.14 bil
Qatar
4.46 bil
United Kingdom
4.38 bil
India
Imports
Recipient
3.84 bil
Kuwait
3.58 bil
Israel
3.35 bil
Taiwan
2.91 bil
Norway
2.74 bil
Iraq
2.64 bil
Netherlands
2.38 bil
Turkey
Imports
Recipient
2.10 bil
Italy
2.02 bil
Egypt
1.86 bil
Singapore
1.65 bil
Morocco
1.63 bil
Afghanistan
1.38 bil
Canada
0.973 bil
Ukraine
68 Comments
+63
Level 86
Jun 14, 2017
Selling weapons to all sides in the middle east and then offer to negotiate peace -- I thought I was a cynic. Wow. Even better sell weapons to nuclear powers on the same subcontinent who don't life each other. Well done.
+4
Level 91
Sep 1, 2017
I thought the same thing. To be fair, though, I would think it's more likely that if things really blow up in the Middle East, the countries we export to in the Middle East would be united because they are fighting a common foe.
+31
Level 81
Sep 1, 2017
eh... while I don't disagree necessarily that the US ought to stop selling arms to certain countries... if they did of course they would only be allowing Russia, the UK, China, etc. to step in and supply the demand as they have in many other places. The United States did not create the conflict in the Middle East nor the demand for weapons there. Israel was originally armed mostly by the Czechs. Other sides got their arms from the British, the French, and the Soviets primarily. and of course these conflicts go back far far longer than 1948, back to before the United States even existed, actually.
+30
Level 81
Oct 21, 2017
iDon is mostly right, too. The US sees Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait and Qatar as a check on the power of Iran, not Israel. They see Egypt and Turkey as playing a stabilizing role in the region contrary to Syria or Lebanon. They see Iraq as a bulwark against the expansion of ISIS, and Afghanistan and Pakistan as a check on the Taleban.
+3
Level 62
Oct 21, 2017
Your comment is very enlightening.
+1
Level 75
Oct 21, 2017
We are trying to do the same thing with China and North Korea.
+20
Level 62
Oct 8, 2021
> Afghanistan and Pakistan as a check on the Taleban.

This aged poorly lmao.

+3
Level 81
Oct 8, 2021
it was true when I said it. Things change.
+12
Level 62
Oct 9, 2021
Nope, it was still incorrect then. Pakistan has always been training and funding the Taliban.
+1
Level 65
May 22, 2024
we funded them during the cold war just cuz they weren't communists, like the us is any better
+5
Level 81
Nov 1, 2021
^ source needed
+7
Level 68
Nov 2, 2021
So basically we just hate Iran.
+1
Level 26
Jan 18, 2023
basically. yes.
+3
Level 76
Sep 25, 2023
Funny enough, Iran is fighting both ISIS and the Taliban, while the Saudis support ISIS. Maybe the US should start arming Iran? ;-)
+2
Level 76
Sep 25, 2023
Which shows the propagandistic BS that is spread in some of these comments sections, and a lot of people buy it. The US was actually backing ISIS there for a while, but hey, that's not the official narrative, so shush.
+1
Level 72
Oct 2, 2023
I've heard that before but there's no concrete proof to support the claim that the US was supporting ISIS.
+10
Level 71
Oct 21, 2017
How is this "all sides"? Nothing to Iran or Syria. The rest of these countries have made some sort of peace with each other (often with US pressure and help in diplomacy).
+6
Level 49
May 22, 2019
Yeah, with each other perhaps (although actually mostly not really), but internally they are fighting drawn out civil wars with foreign powers (particularly the USA, Russia, China, UK, France) supporting different factions within the war, and leading to an incredible amount of suffering, all so those countries can continue to sell their weapons for their own profit. And then they wonder why there are so many refugees. Duh!
+1
Level 68
Nov 1, 2021
Turkey has both American and Russian weapons
+6
Level 40
Jun 14, 2017
Singapore was a surprise.
+2
Level 75
Jun 16, 2017
And at #6 to boot.
+19
Level 60
Oct 21, 2017
Don't take that too litterally, singapore is basically a huge port that buys and redistributes many types of goods, including arms. They don't actually buy these for themselves
+15
Level 44
Oct 23, 2017
Singapore actually keeps a squadron of F-15s in the US. They don't have enough airspace to operate in so they train their pilots in the US.
+2
Level 95
Apr 12, 2018
i only got it because i remembered how high it is ranked among arms exporters. Being so tiny i thought "it has to get those arms from somewhere"
+1
Level 69
Dec 27, 2019
Tiny, but rich!
+7
Level 56
Oct 21, 2017
Only one European country here! Also a bit of Turkey but still, I guess we make our own weapons.
+4
Level 75
Oct 21, 2017
You don't have to. The US has weapons at our bases in Europe and we also maintain war reserve stocks in many European countries. We have nuclear weapons stored in Europe, too, but we don't give out the codes to detonate them.
+8
Level 60
Oct 23, 2017
France and the UK still have gigantic defence and aerospace industries. They're some of the biggest and most influential employers in both countries, and in the UK at least a lot of international relations is basically about propping them up.
+1
Level 80
Dec 29, 2019
Similar here in Germany. Talking peace and selling lots of weapons.
+6
Level 60
Oct 23, 2017
more like Middle-East map quiz lol
+5
Level 82
Apr 3, 2018
We Aussies sure like our 'Murican weapons.
+1
Level 73
Jan 24, 2019
Probably bumped up by our spending on the joint strike fighter program.
+1
Level 51
Nov 9, 2020
I had no idea you Aussies got so many weapons from Spain
+3
Level 81
Oct 21, 2021
Oz is no. 2, wow. I guess xenophobia against Asians plays a role in high defence spending. There was a bad film about an Asian invasion of Oz called 'tomorrow, when the war began' which illustrated that fear (when Oz is arguably actually part of Asia in any case). Also that spending will prob. pick up given Oz is in a military alliance with the US and UK vs China (aukus, awful name) which included Oz buying nuke subs from US/UK and not France.
+3
Level 90
Nov 1, 2021
We need them to stop Chinese aggression and deter an invasion.
+3
Level 64
Nov 3, 2021
Imagine being annoyed at Australia for trying to curtail Chinese influence in the region...
+3
Level 73
Jan 10, 2022
If there weren't an alliance of westernised democracies with competent militaries like Japan, South Korea and Australia (backed by the US and NATO) in the Indo-Pacific region, imagine how long it would be before China would attempt to expand into those areas. You only have to look at their current behaviour towards Taiwan and the Philippines to get a taste of it...maintaining world peace is a delicate diplomatic and economic game
+8
Level 75
Apr 11, 2018
The US can't have political dialogue with Taiwan, but we can sell them weapons?
+3
Level 60
Apr 11, 2018
Quite surprised by Morocco entering the list. Australia got a bump in the list. Everything else seemed to remain the same, except a tie for 18th
+1
Level 83
Apr 15, 2018
They have an insurgency still going on, unfriendly neighbour and they are the only African country outside African Union.
+2
Level 83
Dec 24, 2019
Ok I learned by now that already in 2017 they returned to AU.
+4
Level 50
Nov 9, 2018
Technically Morocco is our oldest ally. Still shocking how high it is though.
+1
Level 71
Sep 24, 2023
Morocco is probably the most Western-friendly country in North Africa, and the country has multiple security issues to deal with.
+11
Level 89
Aug 13, 2018
This should be renamed "Countries Most Likely to Next Get Invaded By the United States For Having Weapons".
+2
Level 79
Apr 11, 2019
@someone2018 Have you really been to 113 countries, including all the U.S. states and all constituent countries of the United Kingdom?
+4
Level 81
May 22, 2020
It's extremely unlikely that the USA would invade most of these places any time in the conceivable future. Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Egypt... maybe. But I don't think they're going to invade Australia.
+3
Level 56
Nov 1, 2021
I'd like to see them try. We have an army of emus at our disposal.
+2
Level 81
Nov 1, 2021
Pretty sure the emus would be on our side.
+6
Level 56
Nov 28, 2021
They're on their own side and will destroy anyone and anything within their sight.
+3
Level 77
Dec 27, 2019
I find it amazing how many small countries rank highly on this list: UAE, Singapore (well it was explained they are just a middleman), Taiwan, Qatar, and Israel.
+9
Level 57
Jan 8, 2021
Taiwan, Qatar, and Israel are all relatively rich for their size, with lots of neighbors that don't like them. Taiwan obviously has China breathing down its neck, Israel is hated by a lot of the middle east , and Qatar had that incident with the GCC a couple years back
+2
Level 71
Nov 1, 2021
More like Taiwan and Israel hate their neighbors.
+5
Level 64
Nov 3, 2021
China wants to absorb Taiwan into its territory and half of the middle east thinks Israel shouldn't exist...but sure, blame Israel & Taiwan.
+1
Level 65
Jun 1, 2021
Because Taiwan CAN'T import the arms that made from CHINA.
+1
Level 69
May 21, 2020
I was a bit surprised when I tried Saudi Arabia and it didn't get accepted but then I went back later to try it again just in case and I must've spelled it wrong the first time so then I'm like "yeah that's more like it"
+1
Level 81
May 22, 2020
Quiz must have been updated. This go-round I got everything quickly except for Morocco. Though I got them eventually, was a bit of a surprise.
+3
Level 75
Oct 10, 2021
Really? As a Spanish, we know Morocco and USA are strong allies. That's why Morocco's policies in W.S. stand, even though the whole African Union is against it...
+2
Level 81
Nov 1, 2021
I know that Morocco and the US have a long history of positive relations. Actually, I think that Morocco was the first country in the world to recognize US independence from Britain. I just didn't think they spent that much on weapons.
+1
Level 32
Nov 1, 2021
Great quiz, but Norway?
+1
Level 40
Nov 2, 2021
I was surprised by that too!
+1
Level 80
Feb 15, 2023
Norway with 0:01 to go... whew!
+2
Level 72
Sep 24, 2023
Surely you have to accept Turkey as an answer?
+3
Level ∞
Sep 24, 2023
Whoops. Fixed.
+2
Level 85
Sep 24, 2023
Statista: "The United States supplied the largest worth of weapons to Ukraine between January and November 2022, at over 18.1 billion U.S. dollars."
+2
Level 90
Sep 25, 2023
So, the US sold the most weapons to one of the worst regimes in the world.
+2
Level 88
Sep 25, 2023
Politics of any meaning normally involve lots of hypocrisy. I don't like it, either, but oil still has a lot to say about the world's economy.
+1
Level 79
Oct 3, 2023
Why is Saudi Arabia's total so crazy high and nearly 2.5 times as much as #2?
+1
Level 48
Jul 30, 2024
Only 52% got Afghanistan? I guess people have already moved on from the disastrous withdrawal of US and NATO forces at the end of the Afghan war lol.