"Sales of weapons and military services by the world's biggest arms companies have continued to rise during the downturn and now exceed $400bn (£250bn), a leading independent research body has reported.
Though the increase has slowed, just 1% year-on-year in 2010, the rise in sales has been 60% in real terms since 2002, figures released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri) showed.
The total sales, including military services, of the top 100 arms companies, reached $ 411.1bn (£257.6bn) in 2010, Sipri said.
However, its report did not include Chinese arms supplies worldwide and has only limited data on Russian arms manufacturers who are vying with US firms in Latin America and other regional arms markets.
The global arms industry is also increasingly concentrated, through mergers and acquisitions, and the top ten arms producing companies now account for 56% of sales – $230bn (£144bn) – Sipri said. Significantly, the entry point for inclusion in the top 100 companies rose from $280m (£175m) worth of sales in 2002 to $640m (£400m) in 2010..."
at http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/feb/29/arms-sales-rise-downturn-military
Though the increase has slowed, just 1% year-on-year in 2010, the rise in sales has been 60% in real terms since 2002, figures released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri) showed.
The total sales, including military services, of the top 100 arms companies, reached $ 411.1bn (£257.6bn) in 2010, Sipri said.
However, its report did not include Chinese arms supplies worldwide and has only limited data on Russian arms manufacturers who are vying with US firms in Latin America and other regional arms markets.
The global arms industry is also increasingly concentrated, through mergers and acquisitions, and the top ten arms producing companies now account for 56% of sales – $230bn (£144bn) – Sipri said. Significantly, the entry point for inclusion in the top 100 companies rose from $280m (£175m) worth of sales in 2002 to $640m (£400m) in 2010..."
at http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/feb/29/arms-sales-rise-downturn-military
