al Jazeera:
Top global arms producers’ revenues surge as major wars rage: SIPRI report
From Israel to Elon Musk’s SpaceX and other giant companies in the US and Europe, arms producers had a profitable 2024
A US Air Force B-52H strategic bomber, top, flies with South Korean Air Force F-35A fighter jets during a joint air drill on April 14, 2023 at an undisclosed location in South Korea after North Korea test-fired a new intercontinental ballistic missile [File: South Korean Defence Ministry via Getty Images]
By Maziar Motamedi
Published On 30 Nov 2025
Revenues from sales of weapons and military services by the 100 largest global arms-producing companies reached a record $679bn in 2024, according to new data released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
The Gaza and Ukraine wars, as well as global and regional geopolitical tensions and ever-higher military expenditures, increased revenues generated by the companies from sales of military goods and services to customers domestic and abroad by 5.9 percent compared to the year before, the organisation said in a report published on Monday.
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The bulk of the global rise was attributed to companies based in Europe and the United States, but there were year-on-year increases in all regions except for Asia and Oceania, where issues within the Chinese arms industry drove down the regional total.
Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and General Dynamics led the pack in the US, where the combined arms revenues of arms companies in the top 100 grew by 3.8 percent in 2024 to reach $334bn, with 30 out of the 39 US companies in the ranking increasing their revenues.
However, SIPRI said widespread delays and budget overruns continue to plague key projects such as the F-35 fighter jet, the Columbia and Virginia-class submarines, and the Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile.
Soldiers stand guard in front of an IRIS-T SLM air defence system prior to the arrival of former German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and top military commanders at the Todendorf military base on September 4, 2024 in Panker, Germany [File: Gregor Fischer/Getty Images]
Elon Musk’s SpaceX appeared in the list of top global military manufacturers for the first time, after its arms revenues more than doubled compared with 2023 to reach $1.8bn.
Excluding Russia, there were 26 arms companies in the top 100 based in Europe, and 23 of them recorded increases in revenues from sales of weapons and equipment. Their aggregate arms revenues grew by 13 percent to $151bn.
After boosting revenues by 193 percent to reach $3.6bn through making artillery shells for Ukraine, Czech company Czechoslovak Group recorded the sharpest percentage increase in arms revenues of any top 100 company in 2024.
As Ukraine faces a relentless Russian offensive in its eastern regions, the country’s JSC Ukrainian Defense Industry increased its arms revenues by 41 percent to $3bn.
European arms companies have been investing in new production capacity to fight off Russia, the SIPRI report said, but it cautioned that sourcing materials – particularly in the case of dependence on critical minerals – could pose a “growing challenge” as China also tightens export controls.
Rostec and United Shipbuilding Corporation are the only two Russian arms companies in the ranking, and they also increased their combined arms revenues by 23 percent to $31.2bn despite being hit by Western-led sanctions over the Ukraine war.
Last year, weapons makers in Asia and Oceania still registered $130bn in revenues after a 1.2 percent decline compared to 2023.
The regional drop was due to a combined 10 percent decline in arms revenues among the eight Chinese arms companies in the ranking, most prominently the 31 percent fall in the arms revenues of NORINCO, China’s primary producer of land systems.
“A host of corruption allegations in Chinese arms procurement led to major arms contracts being postponed or cancelled in 2024,” said Nan Tian, Director of the SIPRI Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme. “This deepens uncertainty around the status of China’s military modernisation efforts and when new capabilities will materialise.”
Excluding Russia, there were 26 arms companies in the top 100 based in Europe, and 23 of them recorded increases in revenues from sales of weapons and equipment. Their aggregate arms revenues grew by 13 percent to $151bn.
After boosting revenues by 193 percent to reach $3.6bn through making artillery shells for Ukraine, Czech company Czechoslovak Group recorded the sharpest percentage increase in arms revenues of any top 100 company in 2024.
As Ukraine faces a relentless Russian offensive in its eastern regions, the country’s JSC Ukrainian Defense Industry increased its arms revenues by 41 percent to $3bn.
European arms companies have been investing in new production capacity to fight off Russia, the SIPRI report said, but it cautioned that sourcing materials – particularly in the case of dependence on critical minerals – could pose a “growing challenge” as China also tightens export controls.
Rostec and United Shipbuilding Corporation are the only two Russian arms companies in the ranking, and they also increased their combined arms revenues by 23 percent to $31.2bn despite being hit by Western-led sanctions over the Ukraine war.
Last year, weapons makers in Asia and Oceania still registered $130bn in revenues after a 1.2 percent decline compared to 2023.
The regional drop was due to a combined 10 percent decline in arms revenues among the eight Chinese arms companies in the ranking, most prominently the 31 percent fall in the arms revenues of NORINCO, China’s primary producer of land systems.
“A host of corruption allegations in Chinese arms procurement led to major arms contracts being postponed or cancelled in 2024,” said Nan Tian, Director of the SIPRI Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme. “This deepens uncertainty around the status of China’s military modernisation efforts and when new capabilities will materialise.”
The USS Minnesota (SSN-783) fast-attack submarine sails off the coast of Western Australia on March 16, 2025 [Colin Murty-Pool/Getty Images]
But Japanese and South Korean arms manufacturers’ sales surged on the back of strong demand from European as well as domestic customers amid simmering tensions over Taiwan and North Korea.
Five Japanese companies in the ranking increased their combined arms revenues by 40 percent to $13.3bn, while four South Korean producers saw a 31 percent jump to $14.1bn in revenue. South Korea’s largest arms company, Hanwha Group, recorded a 42 percent surge in 2024, with more than half coming from arms exports.
Israel reaps profits of Gaza genocide
For the first time, nine of the top 100 arms companies were based in the Middle East, according to SIPRI. The nine companies racked up a combined $31bn in revenue in 2024, showing a regional increase of 14 percent.
As the United Arab Emirates continues to face international allegations of arming the devastating war in Sudan, the institute noted its regional figure excludes Emirati-based EDGE Group due to a lack of revenue data for 2023. The UAE rejects the accusations.
The three Israeli arms companies in the ranking increased their combined arms revenues by 16 percent to $16.2bn amid the ongoing genocidal war on Gaza, which has killed nearly 70,000 Palestinians and destroyed most of the besieged enclave.
Elbit Systems pocketed $6.28bn in profits, followed by Israel Aerospace Industries with $5.19bn and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems with $4.7bn.
Israel is using high-powered bombs to maximise deaths in Gaza, experts say
SIPRI said there was an international surge in interest in Israeli unmanned aerial vehicles and counter-drone systems. Rafael’s surge was tied to Iran, as demand for the company’s air defence systems rose to “unprecedented levels” after Iran’s large-scale retaliatory strikes against Israel in April and October 2024 that used ballistic missiles and drones.
Five Turkish companies were in the top 100 – also a record. Their combined arms revenues amounted to $10.1bn, showing an 11 percent increase.
Baykar, which makes, among other things, advanced drones most recently sold to Ukraine, saw 95 percent of its $1.9bn in arms revenue in 2024 come from exports to other countries.
Military companies from the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, India, Taiwan, Norway, Canada, Spain, Poland and Indonesia were in the ranking as well.
But Japanese and South Korean arms manufacturers’ sales surged on the back of strong demand from European as well as domestic customers amid simmering tensions over Taiwan and North Korea.
Five Japanese companies in the ranking increased their combined arms revenues by 40 percent to $13.3bn, while four South Korean producers saw a 31 percent jump to $14.1bn in revenue. South Korea’s largest arms company, Hanwha Group, recorded a 42 percent surge in 2024, with more than half coming from arms exports.
Israel reaps profits of Gaza genocide
For the first time, nine of the top 100 arms companies were based in the Middle East, according to SIPRI. The nine companies racked up a combined $31bn in revenue in 2024, showing a regional increase of 14 percent.
As the United Arab Emirates continues to face international allegations of arming the devastating war in Sudan, the institute noted its regional figure excludes Emirati-based EDGE Group due to a lack of revenue data for 2023. The UAE rejects the accusations.
The three Israeli arms companies in the ranking increased their combined arms revenues by 16 percent to $16.2bn amid the ongoing genocidal war on Gaza, which has killed nearly 70,000 Palestinians and destroyed most of the besieged enclave.
Elbit Systems pocketed $6.28bn in profits, followed by Israel Aerospace Industries with $5.19bn and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems with $4.7bn.
Israel is using high-powered bombs to maximise deaths in Gaza, experts say
SIPRI said there was an international surge in interest in Israeli unmanned aerial vehicles and counter-drone systems. Rafael’s surge was tied to Iran, as demand for the company’s air defence systems rose to “unprecedented levels” after Iran’s large-scale retaliatory strikes against Israel in April and October 2024 that used ballistic missiles and drones.
Five Turkish companies were in the top 100 – also a record. Their combined arms revenues amounted to $10.1bn, showing an 11 percent increase.
Baykar, which makes, among other things, advanced drones most recently sold to Ukraine, saw 95 percent of its $1.9bn in arms revenue in 2024 come from exports to other countries.
Military companies from the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, India, Taiwan, Norway, Canada, Spain, Poland and Indonesia were in the ranking as well.
Israel weapons systems sales are having massive demand because , the professional experts who make a living making such judgements know well how successfully Israeli systems demolished Iranian defences in the recent conflict.
ReplyDeleteWakakaka… the zionist state can't even sustain its own meeting battlefield demands.
DeleteOoop… having u forgotten that the iron dome has zilch effect to defense the zionist state from Iranian ballistic missiles?
History is ruthless with its ironies: eighty years after Germany murdered two-thirds of Europe’s Jews, Israel is defending Germany—and defending the West against the new Nazis.
ReplyDeleteGermany will officially unveil and deploy the Israeli-supplied “Arrow-3” Exoatmospheric Anti-Ballistic Missile System later this week, according to The Jerusalem Post, in what will be the first ever deployment of the surface-to-air missile system outside of Israel. The Arrow-2/3 has significantly proved itself in combat over the last year, being heavily used to intercept hundreds of missiles fired against Israel by Iran during the Israel-Iran War, as well as by the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen.
https://x.com/sentdefender/status/1995060279382618359?s=20
wakakaka…syok-sendiri fart for the consumption of zionist gullible gullies
DeleteMeanwhile the Eastern Bully's Arms Sales is Collapsing...
ReplyDelete🇨🇳 OPINION: CHINA'S "ECONOMIC MIRACLE" IS COLLAPSING FROM THE INSIDE
China's top weapons manufacturers saw revenues crash 10% in 2024, while the rest of the world's defense companies kept growing.
Norinco, the company that builds China’s tanks and missiles, plunged 31% to $14B. Aircraft production by AVIC slowed to a crawl.
Major contracts were quietly cancelled or delayed because Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption crackdown ripped through the military’s supply chain... including China’s second-highest-ranking general.
They're literally eating their own seed corn.
The same state-run giants that were supposed to deliver hypersonic missiles, aircraft carriers, and nuclear upgrades by 2027 are now frozen.
Contracts are “under review,” executives are vanishing, and projects have stalled out.
https://x.com/MarioNawfal/status/1995342092550480334?s=20
China has not be very aggressive in arsenal sales in oversea in the past.
DeleteBut in current form, there r increasing exports of weapon system to many other countries, especially after the proven performance of the J10C fighters during the recent Paki/Info crash.
This sour grape reporting is just aform of the Gorden Chang's neverending China collapsing farther.
And Eastern Bully's wider economic miracle is also suffering....
ReplyDeleteBullyXi is choking on his tea.....
China looks "rich" on paper: second-largest economy, skyscrapers everywhere, bullet trains, $3 trillion in foreign reserves.
Yet the average citizen is broke as hell. The typical adult has only about $27,000 in total wealth, compared to $107,000 in the UK or $120,000 in Germany.
Youth unemployment is so bad that the government stopped publishing the real numbers.
Household savings rate is 35-40% because there's no real safety net; lose your job or get sick, and you're done.
All the "wealth" is locked in empty ghost cities, useless bridges to nowhere, and inflated real estate that just lost 30-50% of its value.
The state and connected insiders own everything of value; regular people own overpriced apartments that are now worthless and stocks in companies that exist only because Beijing orders banks to keep lending.
The whole system runs on top-down investments in whatever the government calls “strategic” in its latest 5-year plan:
Steel, ships, chips, EVs, and now missiles, whether anyone actually needs it or not.
When the plan changes or someone gets purged, entire sectors freeze overnight. Trillions vanish into thin air.
That's why a "corruption purge" can paralyze even the military: because there are no real markets, no real prices, no real rule of law, just loyalty to the guy at the top.
One whim from Xi and the whole machine jams.
China isn’t rich. It’s a giant movie set with nuclear weapons.
And the cracks are spreading faster than the state can cover them up.
Source: Reuters, SIPRI
https://x.com/MarioNawfal/status/1995342092550480334?s=20
Citizen comsumption is down? Check the flows of sea of head during holiday breaks in popular tourist destinations lah.
DeleteChinese personal saving is the highest vis-a-vis many developed nations. That f*cked numerics of '$107,000 in the UK or $120,000 in Germany' r numbers falling from the sky.
Simply say, that writer just creating farts from where it thought r suitable to its fart!
China and Russia conceal their true military spending primarily by funding military-related activities through non-defense budget categories and by using a lack of transparent, detailed reporting. This makes it difficult for external analysts to get an accurate, comparable figure for their actual expenditure.
ReplyDeleteChina
China's official defense budget omits several key categories of spending that would typically be included in Western defense budgets.
Exclusion of Major Categories: Research and development (R&D) costs and the procurement of major weapons systems are often funded through separate, non-defense sections of the state budget or special accounts controlled by the State Council.
Military-Civil Fusion: China's national strategy of military-civil fusion blurs the lines between military and commercial investments, allowing spending on combat power to be hidden within civilian ministries and state-owned enterprises.
Alternative Funding Sources: Costs like certain elements of the space program, construction, and some basing expenses are omitted from the official defense budget. Local governments also contribute to defense-related spending, such as for the militia and reserve forces, which are not fully captured in the central government's defense budget.
Russia
Russia employs a similar strategy of budgetary camouflage and a lack of transparency, especially since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, when it ceased publishing detailed execution statistics on military expenditures.
"Off-Budget" Funding: The Russian government uses "off-budget" schemes, such as orchestrating state-guaranteed bank loans to defense contractors, to discreetly fund shortfalls in military programs without them appearing in the main defense budget.
Classified Spending: Large parts of the national defense expenditure are classified, meaning their specific purpose is not made publicly available.
Funding via Other Ministries: War-related and military expenses are spread across various budget categories beyond the official "National Defense" chapter, including "National security and law enforcement," "National economy," "Social policy," and even "Health care".
Purchasing Power Parity (PPP): While not an intentional act of "hiding," the cost of military goods and services (especially labor costs, such as low soldier salaries) is significantly cheaper in Russia than in Western countries, meaning its official budget has a higher purchasing power than a direct market exchange rate conversion would suggest.
wakakakaka… know-nothing fart of inconsequential with creative channels of divergent twists.
DeleteWords w/o supporting numbers!
China's REAL Defence Budget is actually much more than they admit...
ReplyDeletehttps://www.reddit.com/r/ADVChina/comments/1h7ucah/why_china_is_lying_about_their_military_spending/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
mfer, u just do c&p after searching for title fixed to yr f*cked mindset!
DeleteOoop… u obviously haven't gone through the whole section of comments in that redding track!
In 2024, Russia's military spending reached approximately $462 billion when adjusted for Purchasing Power Parity (PPP).
ReplyDeleteThis figure accounts for differences in the domestic cost of military goods and services and presents a more accurate picture of the actual resources Russia is mobilizing compared to figures calculated using standard market exchange rates.
Context and Comparisons (2024 Data)
Global Rank: According to some analyses, this level of spending makes Russia the second or third largest military spender in the world by PPP terms, close to or exceeding China and trailing only the United States.
Comparison with Europe: Russia's military expenditure in PPP terms ($462 billion) surpassed the combined defense budgets of all European Union countries and the UK ($457 billion) in 2024.
Share of Economy: Military and security structures now absorb around 40% of Russia's total federal spending, or about 8% of its GDP.
War Footing: The significant increase is a direct result of the economy operating on a war footing since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, marking a 10th consecutive year of defense spending growth.
Re your "... trailing only the United States", wakakaka. TS, you're one MIGHTY kerbau
DeleteAbove is from Chat GPT. Argue with them.
DeleteJust like salaries across countries should be compared based on Purchasing Power Parity, similarly military spending across countries should also be on PPP basis. It is more accurate than just straight dollars, yuan or ruble.
I quote another source which places China and Russia much closer to the undisputed champion of them all.
https://militaryppp.com/blog/
when the numeric acrobat suits yr fart, suddenly adjustment for Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) becomes a favor!
DeleteOoop… this spurious economic dickhead doesn't know that PPP is only suitable for consumption items of the public.