German Economy Ministry Reports Almost 50% Drop In Arms Exports In First Half Of 2020

Exports of weapons and military equipment from Germany have decreased by almost 50 percent in the first half of 2020, Beate Baron, a spokeswoman for the Germany Economy Ministry, said on Wednesday

BERLIN (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 28th October, 2020) Exports of weapons and military equipment from Germany have decreased by almost 50 percent in the first half of 2020, Beate Baron, a spokeswoman for the Germany Economy Ministry, said on Wednesday.

"The current volume of issued permits for the export of arms is 2.78 billion Euros [$3.

26 billion], compared to the first half of 2019, when the volume was 5.33 billion euros, this is a significant drop," Baron said during a briefing.

The spokeswoman also said that Germany's cabinet of ministers was informed about the export data.

NATO and the EU countries accounted for 37.3 percent of Germany's arms exports. Outside of the European Union, Germany's biggest export partners were Israel, Egypt and the United States.