French arms exports fell to €8.2 billion in 2023 after reaching a record level of €27 billion in 2022, according to the annual report to Parliament, a copy of which was published by the online newspaper Mediapart.
The historic result for 2022 was due to an order for 80 Rafale fighter jets by the United Arab Emirates, worth just over 16 billion euros.
“After an exceptional year in 2022 due to the export of the Rafale to the United Arab Emirates, 2023 is more balanced,” comments the Minister of the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu, in the introduction to the report, which will be officially published “outside the current period”, according to the ministry.
2024 should be on a significant rise
The year 2023 was marked by the entry into force of an order for 18 Rafale aircraft by Indonesia worth 2.6 billion euros, and by several contracts worth more than 200 million euros (Caesar guns for Lithuania, corvettes for Angola and Patroller drones for Greece), accompanied by a stable base of contracts worth less than 200 million euros each.
The decline comes as global military spending is set to see its biggest increase in a decade in 2023, reaching $2.4 trillion due to ongoing conflicts, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
However, according to the report, the volume of orders promises to be “much higher” for France in 2024 than in 2023, thanks in particular to a contract for four submarines concluded between Naval Group and the Netherlands, or to the order for 12 Rafale placed by Serbia.
Source: BFM TV
