STOCKHOLM: Sweden’s arms exports rose 18 percent in 2023 to reach 1.6 billion euros as the Russia-Ukraine war drove a search for weaponry, a government agency said Monday.
Most of the exports went to European Union countries and 39 countries which Sweden cooperates with, the Swedish Inspectorate for Strategic Products (ISP) said in a statement.
Sweden has a growing defense industry with Saab making the Gripen fighter jet, the Global Eye surveillance aircraft and anti-tank weapons.
“The degradation of the security situation and the continuing rearmament in the world means that the Swedish defense industry can expect many orders for a long time,” said ISP director general Carl Johan Wieslander in a statement.
“Swedish military equipment is attracting great interest, particularly in Ukraine,” he added.
Turkiye also benefited from Swedish arms, according to ISP, with exports in 2023 worth four million Kronor (356,000 euros).
In 2019, Stockholm introduced restrictions on arms sales to Ankara in response to Turkiye’s military incursion into Syria.
The embargo was lifted following negotiations between the two countries during Sweden’s NATO accession process.
“The resumption of arms exports to Turkiye clearly shows that Sweden places greater importance to NATO membership than to respecting human rights, democracy and international law,” said the peace and disarmament NGO Svenska Freds in a statement.
“The arms industry wants to present itself as a contributor to freedom and democracy, but Swedish arms companies also export (their products) to undemocratic regimes, countries that violate human rights and international law,” the NGO added.
People in these countries “pay a high price” for flourishing arms industry, it said.
The top 10 destinations for Swedish arms exports are the United States, Brazil, Pakistan, the United Kingdom, Germany, India, Norway, France and the Czech Republic.
