Weapons and military service sales of the top 100 companies in the defense industry reached $592 billion in 2021, an increase of 1.9 percent compared to the previous year.
Despite the difficulties caused by the new type of coronavirus (Kovid-19) epidemic in the supply chain last year, worldwide arms sales increased for the seventh year in a row.
According to the report of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), arms and military service sales of the 100 largest companies in the defense sector in 2021 reached 592 billion dollars, an increase of 1.9 percent compared to the previous year. Thus, sales have increased for 7 consecutive years.
In the report, it was noted that the increase last year was higher than the previous year, but still, the increase in question remained below the 3.7 percent increase, which was the average of four years before Kovid-19.
It was stated in the report that supply chain woes continue to hinder the arms trade in 2021, and that these woes will likely worsen as a result of the Russia-Ukraine war.
According to the report, while global arms sales have risen steadily since at least 2015, SIPRI has included Chinese companies on its annual list for the first time.
In the report, which included that the Russia-Ukraine war, which started in February 2022, increased the supply chain problems for worldwide arms companies, it was emphasized that Russia is an important supplier of raw materials used in weapons production for Western countries.
Lucie Beraud-Sudreau, Director of SIPRI’s Military Expenditure and Weapons Production Programme, said: “Were it not for the ongoing supply chain constraints, we could expect even greater arms sales growth in 2021.” used the phrase.
Noting that large and small-scale companies in the defense sector reported interruptions in the supply chain over the past year, Beraud-Sudreau stated that some companies such as aircraft manufacturer Airbus reported labor shortages.
US companies at the top of the list
It is noteworthy that all of the five companies at the top of the list since 2018 are based in the USA. These companies were listed as Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and General Dynamics.
A total of 40 US companies among the top 100 companies in the global defense industry sold $299 billion in weapons in 2021, accounting for 51 percent of all sales, an increase of 0.8 percent in real terms compared to the previous year.
It is noteworthy that the total sales of the eight Chinese arms companies in the list increased by 6.3 percent compared to the previous year and reached 109 billion dollars. Four of the Chinese manufacturers made it to the top 10 in the list.
Among the top 100 companies, there were 27 companies headquartered in Europe, and their total arms sales increased by 4.2 percent to $123 billion.
After the Russia-Ukraine war, the arms sales of Rheinmetall, ThyssenKrupp, Hensoldt and Diehl in Germany, which started to purchase new weapons for the German army, increased by 5.6 percent compared to the previous year and reached 9.3 billion dollars.
The sales of 6 Russian companies in the top 100 increased by 0.4 percent in 2021 to $ 17.8 billion. ASELSAN, which managed to enter the list last year, ranked 56th and Turkish Aerospace Industries ranked 84th.
The sales of the two companies increased by 12 percent in total, reaching $3 billion 360 million. Since its establishment in 1966, SIPRI has been preparing research, reports and analyzes in areas such as conflict, armament, arms control and disarmament.
Tags: Sales arms companies increased percent billion dollars
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