The Federal Government’s policy on exports of military equipment in Q1 2024

According to provisional figures, licences were issued for the final export of military equipment worth approx. €5.2 billion in Q1 of 2024. This figure consists of €3.85 billion for war weapons and €1.4 billion for other military equipment. The main country of destination is Ukraine, for which exports of military equipment worth around €3.8 billion were approved. This means that, as in 2023, Ukraine was once again the “third country”¹ with the highest licence value – and was in fact the country with the highest licence value overall.

Said State Secretary Sven Giegold:
Accounting for 74% of the total value of the export licences issued in the first quarter of 2024, Ukraine remains the main country of destination for military exports from Germany. The figures reflect the ongoing and extensive German support for Ukraine as it defends itself against the illegal Russian war of aggression.

At the same time, the published figures for Q1 are also reflective of the measures taken to boost efficiency in the administrative export control procedures: a large proportion of the deliveries of military equipment to EU, certain NATO and NATO-equivalent countries and close partner countries have been issued on the basis of “General Authorisations” since 1 September 2023, meaning that there are no more individual licences for these exports, but ex-post notices. When analysing the figures, it is therefore important to take into account the value of individual licences and the values reported.

To put the approval figures into context:

The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action took measures via the Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control in September 2023 so as to strengthen and considerably accelerate administrative processes in the field of export control. In essence, this is about accelerating cooperation with allies and partners with shared values. A large share of exports to EU Member States and certain NATO and NATO-equivalent countries are no longer subject to individual licences, but are approved on the basis of General Authorisation number 33 (for more information on the first package of measures, please click here).

For this reason, the published values of individual licences alone does not provide a full picture and does not constitute a representative or solid basis for analysing the overall value of the export licences issued. The value of deliveries made on the basis of General Authorisation Number 33 is determined by analysing the ex-post notifications made. Where these are already available, they have been included in the total overview and are listed below as a cumulated figure along with the value of individual export licences.

By implementing additional packages of measures, which have been in force since 8 January and 1 April 2024 respectively, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action and the Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control have continued to pursue the objective of rendering export controls more effective and efficient. For information on the packages of measures taken in military equipment export control, please go to: package of measures 2, package of measures 3 and and follow this link. The ministry is also continuously assessing further proposals on how to avoid unnecessary bureaucracy in the field of export control.

The figures in more detail:

Of the total amount of individual licences issued for the final export of military equipment and the reported data on approvals issued under General Authorisation No. 33, €4.72 billion and thus around 90% consists of licences for exports to EU, NATO and NATO-equivalent countries², the Republic of Korea and Singapore, and for exports to support Ukraine in its self-defence against the illegal Russian war of aggression, whilst around €521 million or 10% of the total value of licences was issued for other third countries.

For Ukraine, the main recipient of German export licences for military equipment, licences worth approx. €3.8 billion were issued in the first quarter of 2024 (compared to €497 million in the first quarter of 2023). The Federal Government has published further information about the support provided to Ukraine here.

A total of approx. €311 million was accounted for by licences for deliveries to EU/NATO and NATO- equivalent countries (of which €41 million was for war weapons and €270 million for other military equipment). Alongside Ukraine, the Republic of Korea and Singapore, €521 million worth of licences was issued for other third countries.

In the period from 1 January to 31 March 2024, the following ten countries ranked highest in terms of the approved cumulated export volumes:

Country	Sum total of the value of individual licences and the reported values under General Authorisation No. 33 (in €)
Ukraine	3,809,991,318
Singapore	584,409,686
India	143,424,085
Saudi-Arabia*	126,387,902
Qatar	97,030,983
United States	62,585,412
Algeria	40,000,163
Brazil	39,941,112
Canada	26,364,720
Spain	25,892,735

^{* Licences were issued almost exclusively for joint projects or in connection with joint projects/cooperation projects with EU and NATO partners.}

According to preliminary figures, the total value of the licences for small arms and parts for small arms in the first quarter of 2024 amounted to €28.2 million (Q1 of 2023: €16.8 million). A total of €8.3 million of these exports (around 30%) went to EU/NATO and NATO-equivalent countries. Of the remaining value for third countries (€19.9 million), 99% was for licences for Ukraine.

The licence value for third countries including Ukraine, the Republic of Korea and Singapore amounted to around €4.9 billion (of which €3.8 billion was for war weapons and €1.1 billion for other military equipment).

In the group of third countries, support for Ukraine’s self-defence against the illegal Russian war of aggression accounted for the bulk of the licences issued (€3.8 billion or 77% of the total value for third countries). Roughly €4.4 billion, or around 89% of licences issued for third countries, were for the Republic of Korea, Singapore and Ukraine.

The figure for third countries includes export licences for developing countries³ worth €4 billion (of which €3 billion was for war weapons and €1 billion for other military equipment). In the case of developing countries, all of which are third countries, the support afforded to Ukraine accounts for much of the total value of licences. Around 95% of the licences for developing countries were for Ukraine.

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^{[1] Third countries are all countries which are not members of the EU or NATO. Japan, Switzerland, Australia and New Zealand are regarded as NATO-equivalent countries, i.e. not as third countries in this context.
[2] Japan, Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand.
[3] Developing countries and developing territories pursuant to the list of the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee, excluding upper middle income countries (column four of said list).}