The Authorized Trade in Small Arms: Latin America from a Global Perspective
Situation Update: Latin America
Based on UN Comtrade data, reported global small arms and light weapons (hereafter ‘small arms’) exports rose sharply from USD 5 billion in 2019 to USD 9.2 billion in 2024. Consistent with previous trade updates, ammunition remains the most traded weapon category, accounting for 35% of the value of reported global imports for the period 2019–24, followed by sporting and hunting shotguns and rifles (21%), and pistols and revolvers (18%).
The Authorized Trade in Small Arms: Latin America from a Global Perspective—a Situation Update from the Mapping the Transnational Circulation and Control of Small Arms in Latin America project—examines the global authorized trade in small arms between 2019 and 2024, with a particular focus on trends in Latin America. It finds the region to be a comparatively small player in the global authorized small arms trade, accounting for 2.8% of global small arms imports and 6.3% of exports. Yet military firearms represented about 10% of all Latin American small arms imports during this period—almost double the global average of 5.6%.
The Situation Update also identifies a significant increase in European—and in particular Eastern European—imports during this period, which seem to have fuelled the growing trade. Indeed, European imports accounted for 40% of all reported global imports in 2024, while the value of Eastern European imports multiplied by more than ten between 2019 and 2024.
Read chapters online
The smalls arms trade in Latin America
An eye on military firearms in Latin America
This study was funded by the Swiss Network for International Studies through the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies. We gratefully acknowledge the Centre on Conflict, Development, and Peacebuilding; the International Relations Institute at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro; Rio de Janeiro State University; Instituto Sou da Paz; IGMX Consulting and Research for Equality; and the Conflict Analysis Resource Center for their contributions and fruitful exchanges. For more information: https://armflowslatam.net/
