Arms sales worldwide rose by nearly 5%, says new report
Arms sales rose by nearly 5% worldwide in 2018 in a market dominated by the United States, according to a new report published on Monday by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). The turnover of the 100 biggest arms manufacturers came to $420 billion. US manufacturers alone accounted for 59% of the market, or […]
Arms sales rose by nearly 5% worldwide in 2018 in a market dominated by the United States, according to a new report published on Monday by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). The turnover of the 100 biggest arms manufacturers came to $420 billion.
US manufacturers alone accounted for 59% of the market, or a turnover of $246 billion, up 7.2% 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 programme, officials told.
US firms were benefiting from the Trump administration’s decision to modernise its armed services to reinforce its position against China and Russia. Russia was second in the rankings for arms production, with 8.6% of the market, just ahead of the United Kingdom on 8.4% and France on 5.5 %.
