Arms exports from Germany reached a record high

3 January, 2024 Rheinmetall. Photo credits: AFP In 2023, Germany had authorized the export of EUR11.7 billion in defense items.

According to preliminary data presented to lawmakers last month, the German government has authorized more arms exports in 2023 than ever before. The war in Ukraine partly fueled this uptick, with exports to Kyiv more than doubling compared to 2022. According to the government, arms exports grew by 40 percent year-on-year, with more than a third of the approved EUR4.15 billion in exports going to Ukraine.

The figures cover the period between January 1 and December 12, 2023, during which Berlin approved the export of military weapons worth EUR6.15 billion and other military equipment worth EUR5.57 billion.

Modernized Marder IFVs at Rheinmetall. June 2022.

Photo credits: Bild

Almost 90 percent of these exports go to the EU, NATO, Ukraine, and NATO allies such as Japan, Australia, and South Korea. Aside from Ukraine, the top intended recipients in 2023 were Norway (EUR1.2 billion), Hungary (EUR1 billion), the UK (EUR655 million), the U.S. (EUR545 million), and Poland (EUR327.9 million). Germany has also approved the export of arms and other military equipment of its own production worth EUR1.76 billion to countries such as Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia.

The previous record for arms exports was set in 2021 at EUR9.35 billion.

Production of 155-mm shells at the Rheinmetall plant. Photo credits: Philipp Schulze

Germany is actively assisting Ukraine in the war of aggression launched by Russia.

However, for certain reasons, Berlin is in no hurry to provide Kyiv with long-range missiles for the war.

At his final press conference on December 19, Volodymyr Zelensky emphasized that Germany was the second largest donor to Ukraine.

In December last year, the German Armed Forces signed a new order for the production of 155-mm artillery ammunition with Rheinmetall, which will be transferred to Ukraine.