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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Poland has been the largest importer of arms in NATO over the last five years, a new international study has found. Over 90% of Polish imports have come from South Korea and the United States.
The new data were compiled by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), an international think tank based in Sweden dedicated to research into conflict and arms.
It found that, in the five-year period from 2021 to 2025, Poland accounted for 3.6% of global arms imports. That was the highest proportion of any NATO country, ahead of the US (2.9%), UK (2.1%), Netherlands (1.8%) and Germany (1.7%).
However, six non-NATO countries, mostly in Asia, imported more than Poland: Ukraine (9.7%), India (8.2%), Saudi Arabia (6.8%), Qatar (6.4%), Pakistan (4.2%) and Japan (3.9%).
The world’s 20 largest arms importers, 2021-25 (source: Trends in International Arms Transfers, SIPRI)
Poland’s total volume of arms imports in 2021-2025 was 852% higher than in the previous five-year period. That was the fifth-largest increase among the world’s top-40 arms importers, behind only Ukraine (+11,896%), Belgium (+1,141%), Hungary (998%) and Germany (+914%).
Poland’s main source of arms in 2021-2025 was South Korea, which accounted for 47% of imports. The other dominant supplier was the US (44%). Italy (2.2%) was a distant third. SIPRI’s figures also show that 58% of all South Korean arms exports went to Poland during that period.
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of neighbouring Ukraine in 2022, Poland has embarked on an unprecedented defence procurement spree. It has ordered hundreds of South Korean and US tanks, as well as self-propelled howitzers, fighter aircraft and air-defence systems, among other things.
During that time, Poland’s defence budget has risen from 2.2% of GDP in 2021 to a planned 4.8% this year. That is the highest relative level of spending in NATO.
In terms of arms exports, Poland is well down SIPRI’s list in 14th, accounting for just 1% of the global total. The US leads the way with 42% of global exports, followed by France (9.8%), Russia (6.8%) and Germany (5.7%).
Ukraine received almost all (94%) of Polish supplies, followed by Estonia (1.6%) and Sweden (1.4%). The data also show that Poland was Ukraine’s third-largest supplier of arms between 2021 and 2025, accounting for 9.4% of its imports, behind only the US (41%) and Germany (14%).
After Russia’s full-scale invasion, Poland donated tanks and other hardware to Ukraine, much of it older equipment that was replaced with more modern supplies from the US and South Korea. Poland has also sold its eastern neighbour arms, such as Krab self-propelled howitzers.
The world’s 20 largest arms exporters, 2021-25 (source: Trends in International Arms Transfers, SIPRI)
Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Main image credit: MON (under CC BY-SA 4.0)
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
