weapons
Arms export licenses worth four billion euros
A German Army Leopard 2 tank. Photo: Michael Kappeler/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
Germany sold more armaments in the first half of the year than in the same period last year. Of the 4.14 billion, 2.54 are for the sale of weapons of war.
In the first six months of the year, the federal government issued licenses for the export of armaments worth 4.14 billion, significantly more than in the same period last year (2.3 billion). As the Federal Ministry of Economics also reports, export licenses worth more than 2.54 billion euros related to weapons of war. Weapons of war include machine guns and tanks.
Authorizations worth 1.6 billion euros were granted for “other armaments”. This can be radar or radio technology, for example. Companies that want to export armaments need a permit in Germany.
According to the information, a large part of the approvals – worth around 3.81 billion euros – related to deliveries to EU countries, NATO or “NATO-equivalent countries”, Ukraine and South Korea. 1.78 billion went back “to a large-volume and multi-year procurement project from the Netherlands,” said the ministry’s statement. Approvals worth around 562 million euros have been issued for Ukraine’s self-defence. 337 million euros related to exports to “other third countries”.
The number one among the main recipients of German armaments in the first half of the year was the EU partner country the Netherlands, ahead of Ukraine, the USA and Great Britain. Since individual transactions can be in the high three-digit million range or, in extreme cases, even in the billions, the statistics are subject to strong fluctuations.