German arms exports heading for record year in 2019

German arms exports are heading for a new record this year, following a rise of 75 per cent on the year over the first nine months, according to a response to a parliamentary question made available to dpa on Monday.

Arms exports totalled 6.35 billion euros (6.97 billion dollars) to the end of September, suggesting that the previous record of 7.86 billion euros for the whole of 2015 could be broken.

The figure for 2016 was 6.85 billion euros, but there was a sharp decline in 2018 to 4.8 billion euros.

Economy Minister Peter Altmaier attributed the fall to the lengthy coalition negotiations that went on until March 2018, following the September 2017 elections.

This had led to a delay in approvals for exports, and in turn to a rapid rise once the government had been formed, which was "only apparently surprising," Altmaier said at the time.

Some 1.77 billion dollars in exports for the period went to Hungary, a fellow-member of NATO, as the government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban boosts military spending.

The next largest destination at 802 million euros was Egypt, which is part of the alliance led by Saudi Arabia involved in the Yemen civil war.

Another member of the alliance, the United Arab Emirates, was in ninth place with exports to the value of 206 million euros.

In their deal of March 2018, the parties in Germany's broad coalition agreed to curtail exports to the countries "directly" involved in the war in Yemen, but exceptions have been permitted.