U.S., European Arms Dealers Generate 90% of Global Sales
Tel Aviv, Israel (TML) – The top 100 world’s arms-producing companies sold over $400 billion worth of weapons in 2009, an increase of 8% from the previous year even as the world economy was in the midst of a recession, according to data released last week by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
The annual survey said 78 of the companies were based in the United States and Western Europe and generated $368 billion in total sales. This meant that 91.7% of total arms sales were made by U.S. or European firms. The 45 U.S. firms accounted for 61% of all arms sales.
Broken down, 33 of the top 100 companies were based in nine Western European countries (Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Britain) and their sales amounted to $120 billion, or 30% of the market.
Russia had seven companies in the top 100 list and their combined sales totaled about $10 billion.
Regarding the rest of the world, India had three companies in the top 100, Japan had four, South Korea had two and Singapore one. China was excluded by SIPRI because figures from China’s producers were based on a lack of comparable and difficult to access quality data.
The Middle East had five companies in the top 100, including three in Israel, one in Kuwait and one in Turkey. None of the companies in the top 100 were based in Latin America or Africa, SIPRI said. Arms sales from Asia and the Middle East totaled $24 billion last year.
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