Mon 07 December 2020:
Sales of arms and military services by the sector’s largest 25 companies totalled US$361 billion in 2019, 8.5 per cent more than in 2018. The largest companies have a geographically diverse international presence. This is according to new data released today by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
“In 2019, the top five arms companies were all based in the US: Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and General Dynamics,” the report said.
It said that 61% of the combined arms sales of the top 25 was made up by these five and it amounted to $166 billion.
After the US, China accounted for the second largest share of 2019 arms sales by the top 25, at 16%.
The report also looks at the international presence of the 15 largest arms companies in 2019. These companies are present in a total of 49 countries, through majority-owned subsidiaries, joint ventures and research facilities.
With a global presence spanning 24 countries each, Thales and Airbus are the two most internationalized companies—followed closely by Boeing (21 countries), Leonardo (21 countries) and Lockheed Martin (19 countries).
The United Kingdom, Australia, the USA, Canada and Germany host the largest numbers of these foreign entities. Outside the arms industry hubs of North America and Western Europe, the largest numbers of entities of foreign companies are hosted by Australia (38), Saudi Arabia (24), India (13), Singapore (11), the UAE (11) and Brazil (10).
Four Chinese companies were among the 25 largest firms and three are in the top 10: Aviation Industry Corporation of China, China Electronics Technology Group Corporation and China North Industries Group Corporation. The share of the four Chinese firms rose by 4.8% between 2018 and 2019.
For the first time, a Middle Eastern company named EDGE, based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), was ranked in top 25 at 22nd. It was founded by merging more than 25 small companies in 2019 and accounted for 1.3% of total arms sales of the top 25, SIPRI noted.
On the other hand, the revenues of the two Russian companies in the top 25, Almaz-Antey and United Shipbuilding, declined between 2018 and 2019 by a combined total of $634 million.
The largest increase with 105% in annual arms sales was reported by French producer Dassault Aviation Group.
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