Arms sales rose by nearly 5 percent worldwide last year in a market dominated by the US, according to a new report published yesterday by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
The turnover of the 100 biggest arms manufacturers came to US$420 billion, thanks in large part to the US market, the report said.
US manufacturers alone accounted for 59 percent of the market, or a turnover of US$246 billion, up 7.2 percent on the previous year.
“This is a significant increase over one year considering the already high levels of US combined arms sales,” Aude Fleurant, the director of SIPRI’s arms transfers and military expenditure program, told reporters.
US firms were benefiting from US President Donald Trump’s administration’s decision to modernize its armed services to reinforce its position against China and Russia.
Russia was second in the rankings for arms production, with 8.6 percent of the market, just ahead of the UK on 8.4 percent and France on 5.5 percent.
The study did not include China, for which there was insufficient data, but SIPRI’s research estimated that there were three to seven Chinese businesses in the top 100 arms manufacturers.
Two major European companies, Airbus and MBDA were also responding to “demand due to ongoing armed conflicts and severe tensions in several regions”, Fleurant added.
China has spent 1.9 percent of its GDP on defense every year since 2013.
The top-ranked Russian firm, Almaz-Antei, jumped to ninth on the list with turnover of US$9.6 billion — increasing 18 percent from the previous year.
“This increase was based not only on strong domestic demand, but also on continuing growth in arms sales to other countries, in particular exports of the S-400 air defense system,” the report said.
One of the buyers of this system is NATO member Turkey, which took the deal, despite a US threat of sanctions.
Turkey’s arms industry had two businesses in the top 100 and turnover of US$2.8 billion, up 22 percent on the previous year.
Turkey was “driven by the goal of being self-sufficient in arms supply and therefore develop arms production capabilities in all segments (land systems, air systems, naval systems, missiles, etc.),” Fleurant said.
“Turkey is also involved with an enduring armed conflict with the Kurds, which also tends to increase demand for arms,” she added.
The world’s largest arms maker remains the US firm Lockheed Martin, as it has been since 2009, last year with turnover of US$47.3 billion. Its sales alone account for 11 percent of the world market.
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