Last year's figures were bolstered by the sale of 24 Typhoon jets to Qatar. Image source: BAE Systems
The UK has reported that 2018 was the country's "best year ever" in terms of defence orders and arms exports.
In a report published on Tuesday, the Department for International Trade (DIT) said that the country had received £14-billion (€15.3-billion) worth of defence orders in 2018, significantly more than the £9-billion worth of orders the previous year, making it the biggest year since 1983, when records began.
The £5-billion rise in sales was attributed to the sale of 24 BAE Systems Typhoon jets to Qatar and components for F-35 jets to the US.
The bumper year has allowed the UK to leapfrog back into its former position of the second largest arms exporter in the world, with a 19% share, after the United States, which has a 40% share of the global market.
At number three, Russia has a market share of 14% and France comes in fourth with 9%, according to the report.
The news has been met with heavy criticism from anti-war groups and those critical of the defence industry. Campaign Against Arms Trade said the report “exposed the rank hypocrisy at the heart of UK foreign policy. The government claims to stand for human rights and democracy, but it is arming and supporting repressive regimes and dictatorships around the world.”
Nearly 80% of British defence exports in 2018 went to Middle East countries, including Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
The DIT report comes amid continued controversy over the UK's arms sales to Saudi Arabia, one of the country's biggest customers and the largest importer of weapons in the world by a long way.
Defence imports 2018
In June, the UK court of appeal found that the government in London had broken the law by going ahead with arms sales to Riyadh because the weapons could have been used in the war in Yemen.
The UN has described the five-year old conflict, which has seen tens of thousands of people killed and countless more displaced and pushed to the edge of famine, as the "world's worst humanitarian crisis".
The UK court ruling will not stop Britain's arms exports to Saudi Arabia but it will suspend the granting of new licenses.
The British government has asked the UK Supreme Court to overturn the ruling.
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