US Dominates SIPRI Top 100 List; Russia Ranks Second

Global arms sales by the top 100 arms-producing and military services companies totaled $398.2 billion in 2017. The US topped the list with 42 companies and $226.6 billion in sales. Russia was the second largest arms producer in 2017 – a position that had been occupied by the UK since 2002

US Dominates SIPRI Top 100 List; Russia Ranks Second

F-35 by Lockheed Martin, world's largest arms producer in 2017 (Photo: Lockheed Martin)

Sales of arms and military services by the world’s largest arms-producing and military services companies – the SIPRI Top 100 – totaled $398.2 billion in 2017, according to new international arms industry data released on Monday by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). 

The total for the SIPRI Top 100 in 2017 is 2.5 percent higher than in 2016 and represents an increase of 44 percent since 2002 (the first year for which comparable data is available; figures exclude China). This is the third consecutive year of growth in Top 100 arms sales.

With 42 companies listed in 2017, companies based in the United States continued to dominate the Top 100 in 2017. Taken together, the arms sales of US companies grew by 2.0 percent in 2017, to $226.6 billion, which accounted for 57 percent of total Top 100 arms sales. Five US companies were listed in the top 10 in 2017. Lockheed Martin remained the world’s largest arms producer in 2017, with arms sales of $44.9 billion. Boeing is the second-largest arms manufacturer.

The combined arms sales of Russian companies accounted for 9.5 percent of the Top 100 total, making Russia the second largest arms producer in the Top 100 in 2017 – a position that had been occupied by the United Kingdom since 2002. Taken together, the arms sales of the 10 Russian companies listed in the Top 100 increased by 8.5 percent in 2017, to $37.7 billion.

The combined arms sales of the 24 companies in Western Europe listed in the Top 100 increased by 3.8 percent in 2017, to $94.9 billion, which accounted for 23.8 percent of the Top 100 total. The UK remained the largest arms producer in the region in 2017, with total arms sales of $35.7 billion and seven companies listed in the Top 100. BAE Systems, which is ranked fourth in the Top 100, is the UK’s biggest arms producer. Its arms sales rose by 3.3 percent in 2017, to $22.9 billion.

The arms sales of Turkish companies rose by 24 percent in 2017. Taken together, the arms sales of the four Indian companies ranked in the Top 100 totaled $7.5 billion in 2017, representing a 1.9 percent share of Top 100 arms sales.