The news that sales of arms companies have been growing for 7 years. Last Minute WORLDWIDE, CURRENT, POLITICAL, TECHNOLOGICAL news headlines and events

Despite difficulties caused by the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) epidemic in the supply chain last year, global arms sales rose for the seventh year in a row.

According to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), sales of arms and military services to the top 100 defense sector companies reached $592 billion in 2021, up 1.9 percent from the previous year. Thus, sales have been growing for 7 years in a row.

While the report noted that growth was higher than the previous year, it indicated that growth was still below the 3.7 percent increase that was the four-year average before Covid-19 hit.

The report says that supply chain problems continue to hamper the arms trade in 2021 and that these problems are likely to be exacerbated by the Russian-Ukrainian war.

While global arms sales have been steadily rising since at least 2015, SIPRI has included Chinese companies in its annual list for the first time, according to the report.

The report, which said that the Russian-Ukrainian war that began in February 2022 exacerbated supply chain problems for global arms companies, highlighted Russia as an important supplier of raw materials used in weapons production to Western countries.

Lucy Bero-Sudro, director of SIPRI’s military spending and arms production program, said: “If it weren’t for the current supply chain restrictions, we could expect even more growth in arms sales in 2021.” used the phrase.

Noting that defense industry companies large and small have reported supply chain disruptions over the past year, Bero-Sudro said some companies, such as aircraft manufacturer Airbus, have reported labor shortages.

US companies at the top of the list

Notably, all five companies topping the list since 2018 are based in the US. These companies were listed as Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and General Dynamics.

A total of 40 U.S. companies in the top 100 global defense companies sold $299 billion worth of weapons in 2021, representing 51 percent of all sales, up 0.8 percent in real terms from the previous year.

Notably, the total sales of the eight Chinese arms companies on the list increased by 6.3 percent year-on-year to $109 billion. Four Chinese manufacturers made it into the top ten of the list.

Among the top 100 companies, 27 were headquartered in Europe, and their total arms sales increased by 4.2 percent to $123 billion.

After the Russian-Ukrainian war, arms sales by Rheinmetall, ThyssenKrupp, Hensoldt and Diehl in Germany, which began purchasing new weapons for the German army, grew by 5.6% compared to the previous year and reached $9.3 billion.

Sales of 6 Russian companies in the top 100 increased by 0.4 percent in 2021 to $17.8 billion.

ASELSAN, which managed to enter the list last year, ranked 56th, while Turkish Aerospace Industries ranked 84th.

The sales of the two companies in total increased by 12 percent, reaching 3 billion 360 million dollars.

Since its founding in 1966, SIPRI has been producing studies, reports and analyzes in the areas of conflict, armaments, arms control and disarmament.