The SIPRI Top 100 Arms-Producing and Military Services Companies, 2018
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SIPRI Fact Sheet December 2019 THE SIPRI TOP 100 KEY FACTS w The arms sales of the SIPRI ARMS-PRODUCING AND Top 100 arms-producing and military services companies MILITARY SERVICES (excluding China) were $420 billion in 2018—an increase of 4.6 per cent COMPANIES, 2018 compared with sales in 2017. aude fleurant, alexandra kuimova, diego lopes da silva, w Taken together, the arms nan tian, pieter d. wezeman and siemon t. wezeman sales of Top 100 companies based in the United States increased by 7.2 per cent in 2018. With 43 companies Arms sales of the world’s largest arms-producing and military services listed—one more than in 2017— companies (the SIPRI Top 100) were $420 billion in 2018 (see annex 1).1 This the US companies’ share of total was an increase of 4.6 per cent compared with 2017 total Top 100 arms sales Top 100 arms sales was 59 per (figures exclude China, see box 1). The arms sales of the Top 100 in 2018 were cent in 2018. 47 per cent higher than in 2002 (see figure 1). The growth in total Top 100 w arms sales in 2018 was primarily driven by increases in sales by the highest- The combined arms sales of the 27 arms producers in the ranked companies—specifically the top five companies, all of which are Top 100 based in Europe were based in the United States. The growth in Top 100 arms sales in 2018 can be $102 billion in 2018—a slight correlated to increases in global military expenditure, particularly the rise increase of 0.7 per cent in US spending from 2017 to 2018. compared with 2017. European companies accounted for 24 per cent of total Top 100 arms sales 1 For further detail on methodology see ‘About the SIPRI Arms Industry Database’ in this fact in 2018. sheet. The full data set is available on the SIPRI website. w Ten companies based in Russia were listed in the Top 100 in 2018. Their total 500 arms sales were $36.2 billion— ) 400 a marginal decrease of 0.4 per cent on 2017. One Russian 300 company ranked in the top 10 in 2018. 200 w Collectively, the arms sales of tal arms sales (US$ b. 100 companies in the Top 100 based To outside Europe, Russia and the 0 USA accounted for $36.2 billion 3 4 7 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 2002200 200 20052006200 2008200920 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 of the total Top 100 arms sales in 2018, representing an 8.6 per Constant (2018) US$ Current US$ cent share of the total. Figure 1. Total arms sales of companies in the SIPRI Top 100, 2002–18 w In 2018 the total sales of the 15 largest manufacturing Notes: ‘Arms sales’ are defined as sales of military goods and services to military custom- companies were almost six ers domestically and abroad. The data in this graph refers to the companies in the SIPRI Top 100 in each year, so the data covers a different set of companies each year, except for times greater than the 2017 and 2018, which refer to the set of companies listed in 2018. 2002 is the first year for combined arms sales of the which SIPRI has sufficient data to include Russian companies in its Top 100 lists. companies in the Top 100. Source: SIPRI Arms Industry Database, Dec. 2019. 2 sipri fact sheet DEVELOPMENTS IN THE TOP 100 The Top 100 companies are ranked by their annual arms sales. Companies are also categorized by the country in which their ownership and control structures are located. As has been the case every year since 2002, the vast majority of companies listed in the Top 100 in 2018 were based in the USA, Europe and Russia, with the USA having, by far, the highest number of com panies listed.2 A total of 70 companies based in the USA and Europe are listed in 2018, accounting for 83 per cent of total Top 100 arms sales. At $348 billion in 2018, their combined arms sales were 5.2 per cent higher than in 2017. Arms sales of companies based in Europe in the Top 100 were $102 billion in 2018—a slight increase of 0.7 per cent compared with 2017. Despite an over- all decrease of 4.8 per cent in 2018 (see figure 2), the combined arms sales of companies based in the United Kingdom listed in the Top 100 remained the highest in Europe. The decline in sales was partly because of ongoing delays in the UK’s arms procurement programme. The combined arms sales of the 10 companies based in Russia listed in the Top 100 for 2018 were $36.2 billion. Of the countries with companies ranked in the Top 100, Russia had the second-largest share of total Top 100 arms sales (see figure 3). Arms sales of Russian companies decreased marginally (by 0.4 per cent) in 2018. Their share of total Top 100 arms sales dropped from 9.7 per cent in 2017 to 8.6 per cent in 2018. This was largely a result of the higher Top 100 total in 2018 due to the substantial growth in the com- bined arms sales of US and European companies. The arms sales of the top 10 companies in the Top 100 for 2018 totalled $210 billion—an increase of 5.8 per cent on 2017. In 2018, for the first time since 2002, the top 5 in the Top 100 consisted solely of companies based in the USA. These five companies had combined sales of $148 billion or 35 per cent of total Top 100 arms sales. Companies ranked from 6th to 10th accounted for 15 per cent of the total. THE UNITED STATES Taken together, the arms sales of the 43 companies based in the USA listed in the Top 100 were $246 billion in 2018—an increase of 7.2 per cent on 2017. The USA’s share of total Top 100 arms sales was 59 per cent in 2018. 2 Developments relating to companies based in Russia are assessed separately from the regional discussion on Europe in this analysis. Box 1. Chinese arms-producing companies Chinese arms-producing companies are not covered by the SIPRI Top 100 because of a lack of data on which to make a reasonable or consistent estimate of arms sales dating back to 2002. Nonetheless, some information is available on several major companies that are part of the mainly state-owned Chinese arms industry. SIPRI estimates that three Chinese arms companies would be ranked in the top 10 of the Top 100 arms-producing and mili- tary services companies: AVIC, NORINCO and CETC. Based on the limited information available and taking into account arms exports and the general growth in China’s military spending, at least seven other arms companies would probably be in the Top 100 if figures for arms sales were available. the sipri top 100 arms-producing companies, 2018 3 Lockheed Martin is, by far, the largest arms pro- ducer in the world: in 2018 its share of total Top 100 United States 7.2% arms sales was 11 per cent and its arms sales grew by Russia –0.4% 5.2 per cent. It has occupied the first position in the United Kingdom –4.8% Top 100 every year since 2009. An important driver France 2.4% of Lockheed Martin’s higher arms sales in 2018 was Trans-European 7.8% an increase in the deliveries of F-35 combat aircraft Italy 5.0% to the USA and other countries. In 2018 the arms Japan 1.1% sales of Boeing—the second-largest arms producer Israel 8.6% in the world—were $29.2 billion or 6.9 per cent of Germany –3.8% total Top 100 arms sales. Northrop Grumman’s India –6.9% arms sales grew by 14 per cent in 2018, to $26.2 bil- South Korea 9.9% lion, making it the third-largest arms producer. The Other 9.1% $3.3 billion growth in its arms sales was the largest –10–8–6–4–20246810 absolute increase of any company listed in the Top 100 for 2018 and was driven by its acquisition of Figure 2. Percentage change in arms sales of companies in Orbital-ATK and strong domestic and international the SIPRI Top 100, by country, 2017–18 demand for its weapons, including intercontinental Notes: The change refers to the companies in the Top 100 for 2018. ballistic missiles and missile defence systems. The figures are based on arms sales in constant (2018) US dollars. Arms sales by Raytheon (ranked 4th) and General The category ‘Other’ consists of countries whose companies’ arms sales comprise less than 1% of the total: Australia, Canada, Poland, Dynamics (ranked 5th) rose by 3.9 and 10 per cent, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and Ukraine. respectively. Source: SIPRI Arms Industry Database, Dec. 2019. A new phase of mergers and acquisitions in the US arms industry The summary of the US 2018 National Defense Strategy published by the administration of President Donald J. Trump stated that the current secu- rity environment was characterized by ‘Inter-state strategic competition’ and that the US military advantage had atrophied and needed to be rebuilt in order to address the strategic competition from China and Russia.3 This document emphasized the USA’s commitment to continue with and strengthen its large-scale arms modernization programme announced in 2017.