The United Arab Emirates recently signs an agreement with the United States to purchase 50 F-35 jets.(Photo: AFP)

The United States, France and Germany - three of the world’s biggest exporters - increased deliveries, but falls in exports from Russian and China offset the rise, SIPRI said.

It was the first time since 2001–2005 that the volume of deliveries of major arms between countries - an indicator of demand - did not increase from the previous five year period, SIPRI said.

While the pandemic has shut down economies across the world and pushed many countries into deep recessions, SIPRI said it was too early to tell whether the slowdown in arms deliveries was likely to continue.

Asia and Oceania were the largest importing regions for major arms, receiving 42% of global arms transfers in the past 5 years. India, Australia, China, South Korea and Pakistan were the biggest importers in the region.