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Small Arms Survey Annual Report 2023

The year 2023 was significant for a number of reasons. It saw the conclusion of Daniel de Torres’ successful stewardship as director of the Small Arms Survey, and so we thank him for his dedicated service to the Survey over the last four years. This year also marked the final year of the Survey’s five-year strategy and the completion of significant projects such as Strengthening Implementation and Enforcement of the Arms Embargo on North Korea, as well as the announcement of Mark Downes' appointment as the Survey’s new director.  

For the Survey, it was a year underlined by innovation, with in-depth regional studies on the socio-economic costs of armed violence in the Caribbean, the trafficking of improvised explosive device components in West Africa, and arms proliferation in Afghanistan, as well as an update to the Global Violent Deaths database. More worryingly for the arms control and armed violence reduction agendas, 2023 saw the reversal of progress towards Sustainable Development Goal 16.1. With increases in conflict-related deaths around the world (including in occupied Palestinian territory, Sudan, and Ukraine), ongoing challenges to real-world implementation of legal arms control measures designed to prevent gender-based violence in parts of Latin America, and the ever-increasing threat of privately made firearms—ranging from artisanal weapons to 3D printed firearms—this past year could be described as a turning point for our agenda.

We are proud of the work accomplished in 2023, and thank you—our partners, donors, and community—for your continued support.

Read: Small Arms Survey Annual Report 2023

For more, check out:

  • The Small Arms Survey Strategy 2024–28—our pathway for the next five year, which builds on the Survey’s 25 years of experience and knowledge, supporting its adaptation in an ever-evolving world—one that the Survey envisions will one day be without illicit arms and armed violence.
  • The Small Arms Survey statement at RevCon4 (June 2024)—the Survey's Director Mark Downes presented this statement to the President and all attending delegations of the Fourth Review Conference of the Programme of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons on Thursday, 20th June 2024
  • RevCon4 webpage (June 2024)—information about the process itself as well as work done by the Survey within the various themes discussed at this year’s conference.
  • 'Road to RevCon4' podcast series (June 2024) in our Resource Library and on podcast platforms Spotify and Apple Podcasts

Other news from the Survey: