This briefing paper by IPIS and IANSA provides selected global data and figures to highlight the massive global scale and impacts of violence and destabilization committed with small arms and light weapons (SALW) in both conflict and non-conflict settings, including the enormous economic and social costs arising from the illicit circulation, diversion, frequent misuse and inadequate regulation of such weapons and their ammunition.

The huge global cost in lives and livelihoods can be gleaned by considering various estimates. In July 2023 UN Secretary General reported that: “From 2015 to 2021, an estimated 3.1 million people lost their lives as a result of intentional homicides, a shocking figure which dwarfs that of the estimated 700,000 people who died in armed conflicts during the period.” In December 2023 he added that: “According to the latest figures, 260,000 people were killed by small arms in 2021 alone, amounting to 45 per cent of all violent deaths — more than 700 people daily, or one person dying from small arms every two minutes.” A large proportion of deaths in armed conflict situations were committed or facilitated through the use of SALW. In addition, from 2015 to 2021, organized crime accounted for around 700,000 deaths. Considering that in 2021, 47 per cent of reported homicides committed with a known mechanism world-wide involved the use of firearms, it is reasonable to assume that deaths committed and facilitated with SALW, both directly and indirectly over the past decade, amounted to millions of lives lost.