Export licences for military equipment in the first half of 2023: 90% of all licences are for close partner countries Ukraine is main recipient

According to preliminary figures for the first half of 2023, individual licences worth €5.22 billion were issued for the export of military equipment (of which €2.44 billion was for war weapons and €2.78 billion for other military equipment). The equivalent figure for 2022 was €4.16 billion. Ukraine accounts for €1.65 billion and is the country with the highest licence value. Further information from the Federal Government about the support provided to Ukraine can be found here.

The lion’s share of the total sum (€4.74 billion out of €5.22 billion) are licences for EU, NATO and countries with NATO-equivalent status, Ukraine and the Republic of Korea. As in 2022, they account for approx. 90% of the total value of all individual export licences issued.

State Secretary Sven Giegold said: "Current levels of licences make it clear that Germany is continuing to support Ukraine as it defends itself against Russia's illegal war of aggression. The figures also underline our very close ties with our EU and NATO partners and close partner countries, compared with the restrictive approach to other third countries. Apart from our own security interests, human rights in the recipient countries remain a key issue for federal policy regarding the export of military equipment. This is why we are also working to establish stronger cooperation in Europe and are continuing to advance work on Germany’s first Military Equipment Export Control Act.”

Figures:

A total of €2.89 billion was accounted for by licences for deliveries to EU/NATO and NATO-equivalent countries1 (of which €1.18 billion was for war weapons and €1.71 million for other military equipment). Of this, approximately €1.03 million was spent on equipping the Hungarian armed forces. Apart from Ukraine and the Republic of Korea, only €480 million was for other third countries [2].
In the period from 1 January to 30 June 2023, these ten countries ranked highest in terms of the approved individual export volumes:

According to preliminary figures, the total value of licences for small arms and parts for small arms in the first half of 2023 amounted to €27.7 million (first half of 2022: €71.5 million). Within this figure, exports worth a total of €26.6 million (96%) went to EU/NATO and NATO-equivalent countries. This means that almost all the licensed exports of small arms and small arms parts were destined for the privileged group of EU and NATO partners. Export licences for third countries were approved for a UN mission in Iraq, Kosovo and the Republic of Korea.

In addition to the reports on military equipment exports, the Federal Government has been publishing quarterly press releases with figures regarding the export licences for military equipment in order to provide greater transparency.

__________________________________

¹ Japan, Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand.
² Third countries including Ukraine and the Republic of Korea: approximately €2.33 billion, of which: €1.26 billion in war weapons and €1.07 billion in other military equipment. This figure includes export licences for developing countries (developing countries and developing territories pursuant to the list of the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee, excluding upper middle income countries (column four of the list)) of €1.83 million (consisting of €1.21 million in war weapons and €627 million in other military equipment, most of which was destined for Ukraine, which is also covered by this category).