For the first time, the German government approved a record export of weapons worth more than 8 billion euros ($ 8.9 billion) in 2019, according to official figures cited by BGNES.

The value of export licenses jumped from EUR 4,824 billion in 2018 to EUR 8,015 billion next year, according to information from the Ministry of Economy, announced after a request by the "Greens". 32% the approved exports are related to weapons; the rest - to military equipment.

Germany has already surpassed its record of € 7.859 billion - reached in 2015 - in mid-December 2019, but recent figures released by the DPA show the value of approved defense deals for the whole year.

Approvals for arms exports to countries outside the European Union and NATO - which in some cases have been controversial due to fears of human rights abuses - have increased by nearly a billion euros.

Such defense deals represent 44.1% of the total, compared to 52.8% for the previous year. The new 2019 record could cause even more controversy in the German coalition government, with the newly elected Social Democrats (SDP) leadership.