The European Union does not have a strong culture of gun ownership nor much public debate about firearms, yet it has become one of the world's leading exporters of small arms and light weapons, according to a Euronews survey published on Monday.
Italy, Germany and Austria are some of the world's leading exporters.
In 2025, the European firearms industry earned 183 billion euros. Due to global instability, EU leaders are calling for higher production.
In Europe, gun ownership rights are generally seen as a state-granted privilege, and most countries require valid reasons to own a gun.
The Czech Republic is the only EU country with a constitutional right to armed self-defense.
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Germany and France have about 5.8 million and 5 million registered guns, far fewer than the 82 to 107 million gun owners in the United States.
The EU faces criticism for selling arms to countries such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, where these weapons are linked to internal repression and conflicts in Yemen and Sudan. Although EU rules prohibit sales to human rights abusers, the lack of transparency in arms exports has some questioning whether European countries are putting strategic interests ahead of ethics.
