Sipri report lists more arms sales: arms companies continue to increase their sales

The world’s 100 largest defense companies sold almost $600 billion worth of heavy weapons and military services in the year leading up to the Ukraine war. Despite disruptions to supply chains caused by the pandemic, with delays and bottlenecks, global arms sales rose by a currency-adjusted 1.9 percent to $592 billion in 2021, according to the Stockholm peace research institute Sipri in a report published on Monday.

The renewed increase was higher than in the previous year, but was below the average increase of the four years before Corona. Nevertheless, sales grew for the seventh year in a row, as Sipri further explained. According to this, German gun manufacturers also posted significant increases in the second year of the corona pandemic.

“We would have expected even greater growth in arms sales for 2021 without the ongoing supply chain problems,” summed up Sipri expert Lucie Béraud-Sudreau. Larger and smaller companies alike reported disruptions during the year, and some, like aircraft manufacturer Airbus, also reported labor shortages.

According to the report, global arms sales have been increasing steadily since at least 2015 – the year Sipri was able to include Chinese companies in its annual list for the first time.

Between 2015 and 2021, the sales figures of the 100 largest armaments companies increased by a total of 19 percent, adjusted for currency effects. The value for 2021 is the highest that the peace researchers have recorded since the database was set up around 20 years ago. Sipri includes all sales of heavy weapons and military services to military customers at home and abroad.

Russian arms sales increase only minimally

After growth of 1.1 percent in the first Corona year 2020, the sales figures increased again somewhat more strongly. Bucking the trend, US companies experienced a slight decline of 0.9 percent to $299 billion, which Sipri attributed to high inflation in the United States last year.

The 40 listed US companies – including the top five – now together account for 51 percent of all sales among the top 100 corporations. China follows in second place with a share that has risen sharply to 18 percent, followed at some distance by Great Britain (6.8 percent) and France (4.9 percent). Germany has a share of 1.6 percent.

With a minimal increase of 0.4 percent, Russia had a share of 3.0 percent before invading Ukraine. While reports indicated that Russian defense companies are ramping up arms production in response to the Ukraine war, they have had trouble getting hold of semiconductors, Sipri wrote. They are also affected by war-related sanctions.

Exactly how the Ukraine war will affect global numbers is unlikely to be seen until next year. But the peace researchers already wrote: “Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has increased supply chain challenges for defense companies, not least because Russia is a major supplier of raw materials for weapons production.” According to the report, these include aluminum, copper, steel and Titanium.

German quartet follows the trend

In Europe, Sipri sees two trends: While sales in military aviation fell, they rose in shipbuilding. The 27 European companies in the “Top 100” ranking sold arms and armaments worth 123 billion US dollars (about 117 billion euros). This corresponds to an increase of 4.2 percent compared to the previous year.

The four German companies Rheinmetall, ThyssenKrupp, Hensoldt and Diehl sold weapons and armaments worth 9.3 billion US dollars (about 8.9 billion euros) last year, 5.6 percent more than in the previous year.

According to Sipri, Rheinmetall remained the largest German arms manufacturer with sales of 4.5 billion US dollars (about 4.3 billion euros). Overall, the sales of German companies accounted for 1.6 percent of the arms and armaments sold worldwide. Airbus, number 15 in the ranking after a 15 percent drop in arms sales, is considered by Sipri to be a trans-European group.

The environmental organization Greenpeace assumes that sales of armaments will increase enormously in the wake of the Ukraine war. Greenpeace security expert Alexander Lurz warned that countries would then lack this money for social issues, climate protection and education.

Germany in particular needs initiatives for international arms limitations. “The armaments companies earn a lot from the fact that states are increasingly relying on military strength,” explained Lurz. “The risk of further conflicts and wars increases, because the rearmament of one is a threat to the other.” (dpa, epd)

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