U.S. and Chinese companies dominated the global arms market in 2019, while the Middle East made its first appearance among the 25 biggest weapons manufacturers, a report by the SIPRI research institute said Monday. The U.S. arms industry accounted for 61% of sales by the world’s top 25 manufacturers last year, ahead of China’s 15.7%, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
Total sales by the top 25 rose by 8.5% to $361 billion, or 50 times the annual budget of the U.N.’s peacekeeping operations.
Six U.S. companies and three Chinese firms were in the top 10, rounded out by Britain’s BAE Systems in seventh spot.
“China and the United States are the two biggest states in terms of global arms spending, with companies cut to size,” said Lucie Beraud-Sudreau, director of SIPRI’s arms and military expenditure program...MORE
