World's top 100 defence groups boost arms sales by 4.2% in 2023, reaching $632bn - Profit by Pakistan Today

Arms revenues globally increased due to the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, the tensions in East Asia, and rearmament processes.

The top one hundred companies that sell arms generated $632 billion in arms sales in 2023, which is a 4. 2% increase in the real terms from 2022, SIPRI released the data.

Arms revenue increased in all regions with the firms based in Russia and the Middle East posting high growth rates. Small arms makers were especially successful in meeting the increasing global demand which was being driven by the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, rising tensions in East Asia and other regions as well as the rearmament programs.

The SIPRI Top 100 companies produced more in 2023 than they did in 2022 and by a considerable margin as well. Three out of four companies in the SIPRI Top 100 exhibited a year-on-year increase in revenue and the majority of the increases were from the companies ranked in the lower half of the list.

"Arms revenues increased substantially in 2023 and this is expected to happen in 2024 as well," said Lorenzo Scarazzato, a SIPRI researcher. He also stated that the current revenue figures do not fully show the level of the global demand, and many firms’ recruitment drives show the optimism for further growth.

The United States remained at the top of the ranking as the 41 companies from the United States accounted for $317 billion in revenues which is 50% of the total revenues and a 2. 5% growth from the 2022 Martin, revenues. RTX, The Northrop top & five Graham, arms Boeing companies and globally General and Dynamics. which
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based Nevertheless, in although the 30 United States include Lockheed out of 33 companies increased their revenue, two of the largest American companies, Lockheed Martin and RTX, experienced the reduction of their revenue due to supply chain issues mainly in the aeronautics and missile sectors. According to Dr. Nan Tian, the Director of SIPRI’s Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme, this was due to the fact that the supply chains of the larger companies were tiered, which made them more susceptible to such challenges.

The European firms in the Top 100, excluding Russia, produced $133 billion in revenues collectively, a 0. 2% increase from the 2022 figures. This was the slowest regional growth rate across the globe.

The production of the complex weapons systems was based on the earlier contracts thus delaying the companies from enjoying the increased demand. Nevertheless, firms that specialised in the production of ammunition and artillery especially those based in Germany, Sweden and Poland recorded high growth rates.

For instance, Germany’s Rheinmetall boosted production of 155-mm ammunition and benefited from deliveries of Leopards tanks as well as ‘ring-exchange’ 100 programmes and related the to two war. firms
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generated Two arms of revenues the of Russian $25. firms 5 appeared billion in in the Top 2023 which was the highest growth of 40% as compared to 2022. Rostec is a state-owned holding company which revealed that its revenues had increased by 49% due to the production of combat aircraft, UAVs, and munitions at the time of the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Even though the Russian data is still classified as secret, it is believed that the production increased significantly in 2023.

In Asia and Oceania, the 23 companies in the Top 100 recorded their arms revenues to grow by 5. 7% YoY to $136 billion. The four companies from South Korea achieved a revenue increase of 39% to 11 billion dollars, while the five Japanese firms reported an increase in revenue of 35% to 10 billion dollars.

The second largest company in Taiwan NCSIST boosted its arms revenues by 27% to $3. 2 billion. Turkish Baykar that produces UAVs used extensively in the Ukraine stated their revenues had grown by 25% to $1. 9bn of which 90% came from exports.

Among the UK firms in the Top 100, the Atomic Weapons Establishment contributed to the highest year-on-year percentage increase in revenues, which reached $2. 2 billion.

According to the SIPRI Arms Industry Database that has been compiled since 1989 and now contains information on companies from 2002 to 2023, and includes companies from China and Russia: Revenues refer to military sales and services to domestic and international customers, in constant 2023 US dollars.

This report forms part of SIPRI’s work leading up to the Yearbook for 2025 that will be out in 2025.