A billion bullets: Curated reports on the global arms trade
Specially curated reports on the global arms 'game'. A case study by Aryaneel Shivam.
The Global Arms Trade 🌏:
(Preview):
For several decades, the trade in weapons has been among the most lucrative businesses in the world with predictable increases year after year. The ready availability of firearms and ammunition leads to human suffering, political repression, crime and terror among civilian populations. Irresponsible arms transfers can destabilize an entire region, enable violations of arms embargoes and contribute to human rights abuses. Investment is discouraged, and development is disrupted in countries experiencing conflict and high levels of violence. Countries affected by conflict or pervasive crime have the most difficulty attaining internationally agreed development goals.
Source: https://www.un.org/disarmament/convarms/att/
The world is plagued by guns and bullets more than that anything we can think of. The Global arms industry is booming, and the global arms trade is at an all-time high. SIPRI estimates that the total value of the global arms trade in 2017 was at least $95 billion.
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The top 100 arms companies made an estimated $398.2 billion worth of sales in 2017, out of which, the US accounted for 36 percent of world military spending in 2018.
“Adding together the data that states have made available on the financial value of their arms exports, as well as estimates for those that only provide data on arms export licences, agreements or orders, it is possible to estimate the rough total value of the global arms trade. For example, the estimate of the financial value of the global arms trade for 2020 was at least $112 billion. However, the true figure is likely to be higher.”
Source: Financial value of the global arms trade | SIPRI
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The arms sales of the 40 US companies in the listing totalled $299 billion in 2021. North America was the only region to see a drop in arms sales compared with 2020. The 0.8 per cent real-terms decline was partly due to high inflation in the US economy during 2021. Since 2018, the top five companies in the Top 100 have all been based in the USA. The arms sales of the 40 US companies in the listing totalled $299 billion in 2021. North America was the only region to see a drop in arms sales compared with 2020. The 0.8 per cent real-terms decline was partly due to high inflation in the US economy during 2021. Since 2018, the top five companies in the Top 100 have all been based in the USA.
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In 2021 there were 27 Top 100 companies headquartered in Europe. Their combined arms sales increased by 4.2 per cent compared with 2020, reaching $123 billion.