Norwegian exports of weapons 2007-2011
Unchanged weapons exports in 2011
Published:
The values of Norwegian exports of military equipment were almost identical for the years 2010 and 2011, coming to a total of NOK 2.6 billion. Exports to the USA were halved, while values to Switzerland, Turkey and Sweden increased the most.
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- Exports of weapons
Based on customs declarations, Norwegian exports of military equipment amounted to NOK 2.6 billion in 2011. This was just NOK 4 million lower than 2010 values.
Increased export of ammunition, decrease for military weapons
The relative spread between commodity groups did however change somewhat. Export values for the group ammunition and parts doubled to a total of NOK 403 million compared to the previous year, while military weapons and parts declined by a little over 7 per cent. The latter was still the largest of all commodity groups, with values amounting to NOK 1.4 billion in 2011. Export values for the second largest group of bombs, grenades, torpedoes, mines, rockets and similar military equipment including spare parts amounted to NOK 845 million for the same year.
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Note that the figures presented in this article are based on reported commodity exports of munitions and do not take into account any incorrect reporting or illegal trade in weapons. |
| 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Bombs, grenades, torpedoes, mines, rockets and similar military equipment incl. spare parts |
758 | 951 | 700 | 932 | 845 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ammunition and parts, except for bolt pistols and tools with or without lead shots and ammunition for air guns |
184 | 189 | 327 | 194 | 403 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Armed fighting vehicles and parts, HS 87.10 | 17 | 16 | 9 | 21 | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Military weapons and parts for weapons | 1 196 | 1 952 | 2 073 | 1 467 | 1 359 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| All other goods within the delineation | 5 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tanks, arms and ammunition. Total | 2 159 | 3 113 | 3 107 | 2 621 | 2 617 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Memo: Portion of exports of traditional goods, i.e. exports excl. ships and mobile oil platforms, crude oil, natural gas and condensates |
0.6 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 0.7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Decrease in exports to the USA
The USA was still our largest trade partner in military equipment in 2011, followed by Switzerland and Sweden. Export values to the USA came to NOK 712 million; a decrease of almost 50 per cent compared to 2010. This could reflect changed purchase strategies in light of the current budgeting situation facing the American economy. On the other hand, we exported more to Switzerland and Sweden in 2011, with increases of NOK 173 million and NOK 132 million respectively. The “newcomer” Turkey grew by NOK 166 million, and thus became the 5 t h largest recipient of Norwegian weapons exports in 2011, following France. German exports were relatively stable, showing a slight decrease of about NOK 40 million.
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 based on the Norwegian customs tariff. The commodity group ‘tanks, weapons and ammunition’ comprises:
- Commodity group 87.10 in the Harmonized System (HS):
Armoured fighting vehicles and parts for such vehicles
- All national commodity codes in HS chapter 93:
Weapons, ammunition and parts
Differences between the statistics and figures in the Report to the StortingThe 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 yearly reports to the Storting. 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. See table for differences . |
Together these two groups comprise the SITC Rev. 3 and 4, group 891 of the UN classification of goods in external trade. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) uses a different delineation of weapons and ammunition when they publish their international rankings of weapons export.
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.
Contact
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Statistics Norway's Information Centre