French arms exports fell by nearly 8.6% in 2019. Their amount represents 8.3 billion euros. The main customers are Europe, whose share has increased sharply, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), involved in the conflict in Yemen.
After a particularly prosperous 2018, "the 2019 balance sheet for order intake is around the average observed over the past ten years," notes an official report submitted to Parliament and published on Tuesday.
It is marked by some emblematic contracts for Belgium (mine warfare, Naval Group), Hungary (Airbus H225M and H145M helicopters), UAE (Gowind Naval Group corvettes), Australia (design of sub - sailors, Naval Group) and Spain (telecommunications satellites). The naval sector accounted for half of the order intake "whereas in recent years it stood at 10% on average," notes the report.
France among the 5 most important exporters
In terms of deliveries, 2019 was a good year with 9.9 billion euros of armaments delivered against 6.9 billion euros in 2018, of which two thirds (6.37 billion euros) to countries from the Middle East, Qatar at the head followed by Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
These results, "obtained in a context of particularly fierce competition with the confirmation of American supremacy and the emergence of new major exporters, notably China (...), consolidate France's place in the top 5 of world exporters" , argues the report.
"The share represented by Europe is still up on 2018 and stands at 45% of total order intake" against 25% the previous year, at 3.47 billion euros, he underlines. . Belgium alone ordered 1.8 billion euros of French weapons last year. The Near and Middle East region, France's leading export region last year with almost half of the total order intake, thus ranks second behind Europe with 2.15 billion euros in orders in 2019, including 1.5 billion for the United Arab Emirates alone.
A trend reversal
The third largest arms exporting country in the world after the United States and Russia, France is regularly questioned, notably by non-governmental organizations and parliamentarians, for its arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the Emirates Arabs involved in a conflict in Yemen that has left tens of thousands of people dead since 2015, including many civilians.
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The large share of European orders constitutes a trend reversal after a decade of French exports mainly to third countries: over the period 2010-2019, the five main customers of France are India, Qatar, Arabia Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates. Belgium is sixth.