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The official arms trade - Facts and Figures
The big picture
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| Global military expenditure in 2004 was approximately $1 trillion (current prices (SIPRI)). The value of all arms transfer agreements worldwide (ie international trade) in 2004 was over $21.8 billion (Congressional Research Service). During 1997-2004, developing nations collectively accounted for 62.7% of the value of all international arms agreements – they are therefore the main importers of conventional weapons. |
Suppliers
Russia, USA, France, Germany and the UK accounted for approximately 80% of recorded global transfers of major conventional weapons over 2000-2004, with Russia in first place. The graph below shows the evolution of arms exports by the top 10 suppliers of conventional weapons over 2000-2004.
Companies
In 2003, top 10 defence company sales account for approximately 57% of the arms sales of the top 100 defence companies combined (SIPRI). A handful of large companies therefore, very much “rule the roost”. The graph below gives a breakdown of the nationality of the top 100 companies.
Russian firms only account for a small proportion of the top 100 companies, and the firms do not compare in size to the biggest US or European firms (for instance, there are no Russian companies in the top 10). Yet Russian transfers of conventional weapons were the highest of any supplying country over 2000-2004, exceeding US transfers. This is because US (and other) firms are not as export-oriented as the Russian firms.
Recipients
China and India were the largest importers of major conventional weapons over 2000-2004, as illustrated in the following graph. The largest two suppliers to China and India were Russia and Ukraine. There were many other significant importers during this period, including Greece, UK, Turkey, Egypt and South Korea.
