Norwegian exports of weapons 2005-2010

Norwegian weapons exports nearly doubled since 2005

Published:

21 January 2011

The value of Norwegian exports of military equipment has doubled when comparing 2005 with the record years 2008 and 2009, which both hit the NOK 3.1 billion mark. The year 2010 showed a 15 per cent decrease from the previous year, but still came out 70 per cent higher than 2005.

Written by: Ida Skivenes / Øyvind Hagen

Series archive
Exports of weapons

The majority of exports are still sent to countries in NATO. The share going to countries outside the agreement has declined since 2005. The USA remains by far the largest export partner.

Norway fourth largest exporter in 2008

According to the UN database for external trade (UN Comtrade), Norway was the fourth largest exporter of military equipment in 2008. This is most likely the highest ranking the country has ever had. The Norwegian contribution in terms of export values that year accounted for 5.7 per cent of the world’s total export of weapons and arms. In 2009, the last available year in the UN database, Norway fell to sixth place, the same position as in 2007. The top three major weapons exporters have for many years been the USA, Canada and Italy. With exports amounting to USD 4.4 billion, the USA clearly stands out from the rest. This corresponds to around NOK 26 billion, which is close to 40 per cent of the total registered global weapons export in 2009.

Only registered exports

Note that the figures presented in this article are based on reported exports of munitions and do not take into account any incorrect reporting or illegal trade in weapons.

Record exports of munitions for NOK 3.1 billion

Based on customs declarations, Norwegian exports of military equipment amounted to NOK 2.6 billion in 2010. This is a decrease of about 15 per cent from the previous year. Nonetheless, values were up NOK 1.1 billion from 2005, equivalent to a 70 per cent increase. The period 2005-2010 holds two record years, 2008 and 2009, with stable export values at about NOK 3.1 billon each year. Compared to 2005, this equals a doubling of export value. Substantial parts of the increase were due to high exports to the USA.

Exports of weapons and ammunition by groupings. Portion of yearly value. 2005-2010

Exports of weapons and ammunition in customs declarations, grouped. 2005-2010. NOK million
	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010


	NOK million
Bombs, grenades, torpedoes, mines, rockets and similar military equipment incl. spare parts	579	549	758	951	700	932
Ammunition and parts, except for bolt pistols and tools with or without lead shots and ammunition for air guns	240	178	184	189	327	194
Armed fighting vehicles and parts, HS 87.10	48	56	17	16	9	21
Military weapons and parts for weapons	677	1 035	1 196	1 952	2 073	1 467
All other goods within the delineation	3	8	5	4	6	7
Tanks, arms and ammunition. Total	1 547	1 827	2 159	3 113	3 107	2 621
	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	0.6	0.6	0.7	1.0	0.9

Largest commodity group still military weapons and parts

The commodity group military weapons and parts continues to dominate, and at its peak in the current time period amounted to well over 60 per cent of exports, adding up to NOK 2.1 billion in 2009.

The export of bombs, grenades, torpedoes, mines, rockets and similar military equipment including spare parts has increased somewhat during the last six year period, and came to NOK 932 million in export value in 2010. Otherwise, the current year’s percentile distribution between commodity groups is more or less equal to 2007.

Exports of weapons and ammunition to selected countries of destination. Portion of yearly value. 2005-2010

Large export increase to Switzerland compared to 2005

In 2010, the three largest recipients of Norwegian weapons export by value were the USA, Canada and Germany. The first two, together with countries such as Belgium and Switzerland, have increased their percentage share of Norwegian exports since 2005. The most significant positive change occurred with regard to Swiss exports. Exports of military equipment to Switzerland were worth NOK 107 million in 2010; almost 18 times higher than in 2005, when the value was only slightly above NOK 6 million.

However, the USA still ranks as our most important trading partner in this area, and exports have risen considerably in the past six years. In the peak year of 2009, exports to the USA amounted to almost 56 per cent of total Norwegian exports of military equipment, corresponding to NOK 1.74 billion. The percentages of exports going to Poland, Spain and Germany have all declined since 2005. The largest relative decline has been exports to Spain, where values fell from 20 to 0.4 per cent of total Norwegian export values from 2005 to 2010.

Decline in exports to countries outside NATO

The majority of Norwegian weapons exports go to countries that are part of the NATO agreement, and export values in this category have doubled since 2005. Exports to countries outside NATO followed the general trend for export values and thus increased during the peak years 2008 and 2009. However, values for 2010 declined 25 per cent compared to 2005, ending at NOK 305 million. Norway’s largest trade partners outside NATO are Australia, Sweden, Finland and Switzerland. Even with the Swiss increase, falls in exports to the three other countries diminished the total export value. Additionally, many smaller countries that we have previously exported to did not receive exports of military equipment in 2010. Notable countries outside Europe that Norway exports to are Thailand, Singapore and South Africa.

Differences between the statistics and figures in the Report to the Storting

The total value of exports of tanks, weapons and ammunition in Statistics Norway’s statistics differs somewhat from the export value of defence equipment stated in the Report No. 21 to the Storting (2009-2010). As opposed to the definition used by Statistics Norway, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs includes repair trade and trade in services in their export figures for defence equipment, as well as some other commodity groups not included in Statistics Norway’s definition. In addition, the time of recording and errors in customs declarations may have an impact.

2) All national commodity codes in HS chapter 93:

Weapons, ammunition and parts

Together these two groups comprise the SITC Rev. 3 and 4, group 891 of the UN classification of goods in external trade.

The statistics include reported goods exported from Norway as ordinary sales and exclude goods in repair trade. Equipment exchanged under military agreements and equipment for national military personnel on duty abroad is exempt from declaration and hence excluded from the statistics.

Note that the statistics on Norwegian exports of weapons and ammunition are not suppressed due to confidentiality.

Volatility

Because the export of defence material is usually characterised by large and expensive deliveries, there is often a great deal of variation between commodity groups and destination countries from year to year. In addition, the Norwegian export statistics on military equipment are affected by Norwegian investments in military equipment abroad.

Delineation of weapons and ammunition

Statistics Norway compiles figures on exports of weapons from customs declarations submitted by exporters. The commodity group ‘tanks, weapons and ammunition’ comprises:

1) Commodity group 87.10 in the Harmonized System (HS):

Armoured fighting vehicles and parts for such vehicles