Iraq and Vietnam to surpass China, in terms of buying Russian weapons

29/12/2013

According to a Russian think tank, in between the period of 2013 to 2016, China will be the fourth biggest Russian weapon buyer, falling from the second place, which it held from the year of 2005 to the year of 2013.
The Centre for Analysis of World Arms Trade stated in a report released on Dec. 13 that the top three countries buying arms from Russia for 2013-2016 are likely to be India, Iraq and Vietnam.
As per the forecasts of the projection, India, Iraq and Vietnam will make arms purchases worth a combined 51.24% of Russia's total arms sales from 2013-2016, with India accounting for 32.75%, followed by Iraq at 9.87% and Vietnam at 8.92%.
From 2005 to 2012, Iraq's share was 0.54%, while Vietnam's was 4.86%. Over the eight-year period, India, China and Algeria bought the highest percentage of arms from Russia, accounting for 56.42% of Russia's total arms sales.
India accounted for 27.31% of Russia's total weapon exports from 2005-2012. From 2005, India's arms purchases grew steadily and the country overtook China to become Russia's premier customer for arms sales in 2007.
China accounted for 17.43% of sales during the eight-year period, but its share in Russia's weapon exports started declining from 2005.
A total of 69 countries bought weapons from Russia between 2005 and 2012. India, China and Algeria were followed by Venezuela, Vietnam, Syria, Iraq, Egypt, Azerbaijan and the United Arab Emirates. These latter seven countries accounted for 27.9% of the total, while 59 other countries made up a combined 15.68% of total exports.

Last Update:: 29/12/2013

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