Norwegian exports of weapons, 1999-2004

Increase in exports of military weapons

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Munitions of war in the group containing bombs, grenades and missiles have been the largest commodity group in Norway's exports of weapons during the last six years according to data from customs declarations. So far this year the munitions have mainly been shipped to Spain, the USA, Turkey and Sweden. According to the UN Statistical division, Norway was the world's sixth biggest weapons exporter in 2003.

Written by: Anne Berit Dahle

From January to September 2004 Norway has exported munitions of war in the group of bombs, grenades and missiles to Spain worth NOK 175 million, to the USA worth 9l million and to Turkey and Sweden worth about 50 million each. In 2003 and 2002, Australia was the biggest customer of the Norwegian munitions, with exports totalling NOK 319 million last year and 267 million in 2002.

Norway in sixth place in 2003

According to the UN Statistical division, Norway was the world's sixth biggest exporter of weapons in 2003. Only the USA, Canada, the UK, Italy and France are ranked above Norway, according to data published in COMTRADE, the UN database for external trade, available at http://unstats.un.org/unsd/comtrade/

Weapons and ammunition totalled NOK 2 billion

Norwegian exports of tanks, weapons and ammunition came to about NOK 2 040 million last year, according to data from customs declarations. This is a 25 per cent increase from 2002. The sharpest increase took place in 2001, when the export value was twice that in 2000. The value was NOK 950 million in 2001 and increased by about 70 per cent to 1 630 million in 2002. Last year weapons and ammunition made up 1 per cent of Norwegian exports of traditional goods, compared with 0.2 per cent three years earlier.

Export of weapons and ammunition in customs declarations, grouped. 1999-2003. NOK million
 
      1999     2000     2001     2002     2003
 
Bombs, grenades, torpedoes, mines, rockets and similar military equipment incl. spare parts  522  353  538  942  916
Ammunition and parts, except for bolt pistols and tools with or without lead shots and
ammunition for air guns 		78 48 66 88  134
Armed fighting vehicles and parts, HS 87.10  199 59  307  193  124
Military weapons and parts for weapons 16 6 37  398  864
All other goods within the delineation 3 6 5 8 3
Tanks, arms and ammunition. Total  817  471  952 1 630 2 041
  Per cent
Memo: Portion of exports of traditional goods, i.e. exports excl. Crude oil, natural gas and
condensates, ships and mobile oil platforms 		0.4 0.2 0.4 0.8 1.0
 
Export of weapons and ammunition in customs declarations, grouped. January-
September 2004. NOK million
 
  January-September 2004
 
Bombs, grenades, torpedoes, mines, rockets and similar military equipment incl. spare parts  411
Ammunition and parts, except for bolt pistols and tools with or without lead shots and
ammunition for air guns 		 104
Armed fighting vehicles and parts, HS 87.10 74
Military weapons and parts for weapons  327
All other goods within the delineation 2
Tanks, arms and ammunition. Total  918
  Per cent
Memo: Portion of exports of traditional goods, i.e. exports excl. Crude oil, natural gas and
condensates, ships and mobile oil platforms 		0.6
 

Deliveries to the Norwegian navy

The strong exports of weapons and weapon parts in 2003 were largely due to deliveries to vessels that were being built in Spain for the Norwegian naval defence command. According to Stortingsmelding no. 41 2003/2004 (Report to the Storting) these deliveries consist of air defence systems. According to data from customs declarations, exports of weapons and weapon parts amounted to NOK 37 million in 2001, 398 million in 2002 and 864 million in 2003.

The figures show exports of weapons and ammunition by selected countries of destination from 1999 to 2003, and from January to September 2004 as proportions of the total value of exports of weapons and ammunition per year or period. There are large variations. Exports of weapons and ammunition in a particular year may typically be dominated by deliveries of a complete weapons system to a single country. For example, the high proportion of Norwegian equipment going to Greece in 2001 was due to the fact that Greece received two thirds of the Norwegian exports of tanks equipment that year. In 2002, all the tanks equipment exported from Norway were shipped to Greece.

Differences between statistics and figures in the Stortingsmelding

The table shows the total 2003 value of exports of tanks, weapons and ammunition in the official statistics of Norway compared with exports of defence equipment according to Stortingsmelding n. 41 (2003-2004). The main difference between the two sets of figures is due to differences in scope. Different time of recording and misunderstandings or errors in customs declaration may also have an impact. Exports of defence equipment according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs contain goods for defence recorded in other commodity groups than tanks, weapons and ammunition, as well as repair trade and trade in services.

See table

Delineation of weapons and ammunition

Statistics Norway compiles the official statistics on external trade in weapons and ammunition from administrative data submitted in customs declarations. The figures on trade in weapons and ammunition describe the trade in tanks, weapons and ammunition. The Norwegian national commodity classification is based on the Harmonised System (HS) of the World Customs Organization, extended by two national digits. Tanks, weapons and ammunition comprise:

  • armoured fighting vehicles and parts for such vehicles, commodity code 8710.0000 (HS 87.10)
  • weapons, ammunition and parts, the complete set of national commodity codes is available in HS chapter 93

The two groups equal the delineation of Weapons and ammunition, group 891 of the UN classification of goods in external trade, SITC Rev.3.

The statistics contain goods exported from Norway as ordinary sales. Goods in repair trade are excluded. Equipment exchanged under military agreements is exempt from declaration and therefore not included in the statistics. The same goes for equipment from Norway for national military personnel on duty abroad.

There is no data suppression due to confidentiality in the Norwegian commodity codes under weapons and ammunitions.

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