Ranked: The World’s Biggest Military Drone Exporters

Which Countries Export the Most Military Drones?

Key Takeaways

• The U.S. and Iran supplied 86% of the 16,822 military drones exported globally from 2022 to 2025.

• Türkiye exported just 381 drones but supplied 28 countries, nearly three times more buyers than any other exporter.

• In 2025, Iran delivered 2,002 military drones, five times as many as the U.S.

Military drones have moved from the margins of warfare to the front line, yet only a handful of countries export them at scale.

The U.S. and Iran dominate the trade, with most of their exports supplying opposite sides of the war in Ukraine.

This graphic ranks the 14 countries that exported military drones over 2022-2025, using data from the SIPRI Arms Transfers Database.

SIPRI counts drone aircraft weighing at least 150 kg, plus one-way attack drones and loitering munitions, which are built to strike once and be destroyed. The figures include drones sent as aid or built in the buyer’s country under license, but largely exclude small FPV and commercial drones.

U.S. and Iran Supply 86% of All Exported Military Drones

The U.S. exported 7,593 military drones and Iran 6,800, each more than six times as many as third-ranked Germany (1,000). Nearly all went to a single war: 95% of U.S. drones went to Ukraine, while 99% of Iran’s went to Russia.

The table below shows how many military drones each country exported from 2022 to 2025, along with its share of the global total:

RankExporterMilitary Drone Exports (2022–2025)

Drones SuppliedShare of Global Total (%)

1 U.S.7,59345.1

2 Iran6,80040.4

3 Germany1,0005.9

4 Poland6904.1

5 Türkiye3812.3

6 Israel2051.2

7 China640.4

8 Czechia320.2

9 Belarus200.1

9 UK200.1

11 Portugal7

12 Austria5

13 Italy3

14 Sweden2

--Global Total16,822100.0

Almost all of these drones were built for a single use. One-way attack drones and loitering munitions make up 97% of the global total, which helps explain how a few wartime transfers can add up to thousands of units. Every drone the U.S. sent to Ukraine during this period was of this type.

Nearly all of Iran’s exports were Shahed-136 drones that Russia also assembled and produced under license, which SIPRI still counts as Iranian exports. Iran built up its drone industry in response to a UN arms embargo that tightened over time before expiring in 2020.

Below the top two, exports drop off quickly. Only Germany (1,000) and Poland (690) delivered more than 500 drones, while the bottom seven exporters, from Czechia to Sweden, delivered 89 combined.

U.S. Military Drone Exports Fell Sharply in 2025

Drone export patterns for the two largest suppliers shifted sharply in 2025. U.S. exports climbed from 1,010 in 2022 to 3,219 in 2024, then fell to 402 in 2025, the same year new U.S. military aid to Ukraine came to a halt.

Iran, meanwhile, continued delivering about 2,000 drones a year from 2023 through 2025, making it the largest exporter in 2025 by a wide margin.

The table below shows how many military drones the U.S. and Iran exported each year from 2022 to 2025:

CountryMilitary Drones Exported

2022202320242025

U.S.1,0102,9623,219402

Iran7352,0312,0322,002

Most U.S. drones shipped in 2025 went to Taiwan, which received 291 loitering munitions and ranks third among all military drone importers from 2022 to 2025. Ukraine received 100 U.S.-made loitering munitions that year, paid for by the UK.

Europe partly filled the gap left by the U.S. in Ukraine. All 1,000 of Germany’s drone exports, consisting of loitering munitions sent to Ukraine as aid, were delivered in 2025.

Türkiye Sells Military Drones to More Countries Than Anyone Else

Türkiye ranks fifth by number of drones exported, but no country has more customers. It supplied 28 countries from 2022 to 2025, more than half of the 54 countries that imported military drones and nearly three times as many as the U.S. or China, with 10 each.

Those buyers are spread across the globe. Twelve are in Africa, while the rest range from NATO members such as Poland and Romania to Pakistan, Kuwait, and Ukraine.

Türkiye also sells a different kind of drone. About three-quarters of its exports were larger aircraft such as the Bayraktar TB2, which can fly mission after mission. It supplied 281 of the 486 larger drone aircraft exported worldwide, or 58%.

That difference is why SIPRI also measures arms transfers using a second metric, the trend-indicator value (TIV). Instead of counting units, it assigns each weapon a standardized value based on the production cost of comparable weapons, so one large armed drone counts for far more than a single-use one. TIV reflects the military capability transferred rather than the price paid, and by this measure Türkiye was the largest drone exporter of the period.

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Source: https://www.visualcapitalist.com/ranked-countries-exporting-most-military-drones/