After falling for two years, British arms sales using Single Individual Export Licences (SIELs) more than doubled to £8.5 billion in 2022, the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) revealed on 16 May. Over half of these exports were for countries rated ‘Not Free’ by Freedom House, including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Türkiye.
The government only reports values for SIELs. CAAT estimates that slightly over half of UK arms exports are conducted more secretively using ‘open’ licences, which allow for unlimited exports of the equipment covered by the licence to specified countries. More info from CAAT: tinyurl.com/peacenews4051
Topics: Arms trade