SIPRI: Global Military Arms Sales Totaled $398B in 2017

A new Stockholm International Peace Research Institute report says sales of military services and weapons systems worldwide reached $398.2B in 2017, a figure that reflects a 2.5 percent increase from 2016.

SIPRI said Monday the U.S. arms industry landed the top spot in the 2017 Top 100 for posting a 2 percent rise in weapons sales last year at $226.6B.

Five U.S. arms producers secured spots in SIPRI’s top 10 for 2017 with Lockheed Martin recording $44.9B in 2017 sales.

“US companies directly benefit from the US Department of Defense’s ongoing demand for weapons,” said Aude Fleurant, drector of SIPRI’s arms and military expenditure program.

Russia became the second largest producer of weapons systems in SIPRI’s Top 100 last year, representing 9.5 percent of total Top 100 arms sales.

Ten Russian arms producers on the Top 100 saw their sales jump by 8.5 percent to $37.7B in 2017. Those companies include Almaz-Antey, United Engine, Tactical Missiles and High Precision Systems.

The U.K. reported $35.7B in total arms sales in 2017, making it the top arms manufacturer in Western Europe.

“The combined arms sales of British companies were 2.3 per cent higher than in 2016,” Fleurant said.

“This was largely due to increases in the arms sales of BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce and GKN.”

The report said BAE saw its arm sales increase by 3.3 percent to $22.9B in 2017 and landed the fourth spot in the Top 100.