Arms sales increased even as the global economy contracted by 3.1%.

Despite the outbreak of the Coronavirus around the world, the total sales of arms and military services by the top 100 companies in the industry reached $531 billion in 2020, an increase of 1.3% compared to the previous year, according to new data released today by the Stockholm International Institute. Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

The report by the institute said that arms sales to the 100 largest arms companies in 2020 were 17% higher than in 2015 — the first year that the Swedish institute included data on Chinese companies. 2020 marks the sixth consecutive year of growth in arms sales by the top 100 companies.

Arms sales increased even as the global economy contracted by 3.1% during the first year of the pandemic.

"The industry giants were largely shielded by sustained government demand for military goods and services," said Alexandra Marksteiner, Researcher with the SIPRI Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme. "In much of the world, military spending grew, and some governments even accelerated payments to the arms industry in order to mitigate the impact of the Covid-19 crisis."

The report indicated that working in the military market did not fully guarantee immunity from the pandemic's effects. For example, French arms manufacturer Thales has attributed a 5.8% drop in arms sales to disruptions caused by the shutdown in the spring of 2020. Some companies have also reported supply chain disruptions and delivery delays.

American companies continue to dominate

The report showed that the United States included a large number of companies ranked among the top 100 arms manufacturers. Arms sales to 41 US companies combined amounted to $285 billion, an increase of 1.9% over 2019, and accounted for 54% of total arms sales to the top 100 companies.

Since 2018, all of the top five companies included in the ranking came from the USA.

The institute pointed out that the US arms industry witnesses a wave of mergers and acquisitions. To expand their product portfolios and thus gain a competitive advantage when bidding for contracts, many major US arms companies are choosing to merge or acquire promising projects.

"This trend is particularly pronounced in the space sector," said Marksteiner. "Northrop Grumman and KBR are among several companies to have acquired high-value firms specialized in space technology in recent years."

Mixed results among European arms companies

According to the report, the 26 European arms companies in the top 100 list accounted for 21% of total arms sales, or $109 billion.

The seven British companies recorded $37.5 billion in arms sales in 2020, an increase of 6.2% compared to 2019.

Arms sales by BAE Systems - the only European company in the top ten - increased 6.6% to $24.0 billion.

"Aggregated arms sales by the six French companies in the Top 100 fell by 7.7 percent," said Dr. Lucy Perrod-Sudreau, Director of the Military Expenditure and Arms Production Program at the Stockholm Institute.

This significant decrease was due to the sharp yearly decrease in the number of deliveries of Rafale combat aircraft by Dassault. However, Safran arms sales increased, driven by the increased sales of sighting and navigation systems.

Arms sales to four German companies listed in the top 100 reached $8.9 billion in 2020, an increase of 1.3% compared to 2019. Combined, these companies accounted for 1.7% of the total arms sales of the top 100 companies.

And Rheinmetall, the largest German arms manufacturer, recorded an increase in arms sales of 5.2%. In contrast, shipbuilder ThyssenKrupp reported a 3.7% drop.

Chinese companies the second largest share

The report said that the combined arms sales of the five Chinese companies, listed in the top 100, were estimated at $66.8 billion in 2020, up 1.5% from 2019.

Chinese companies, the third-largest share, accounted for 13% of the top 100 arms sales in 2020, behind American companies and ahead of companies from the United Kingdom.

"In recent years, Chinese arms companies have benefited from the country’s military modernization programmes and focus on military-civil fusion," said Dr. Nan Tian, SIPRI Senior Researcher. "They have become some of the most advanced military technology producers in the world." NORINCO, for example, co-developed the BeiDou military-civil navigation satellite system and deepened its involvement in emerging technologies.

Russian arms sales decline

The report indicated that the combined arms sales of the nine Russian companies ranked among the top 100 decreased from $28.2 billion in 2019 to $26.4 billion in 2020, a decrease of 6.5%.

This is a continuation of the downward trend observed since 2017 when arms sales by Russian companies peaked. Russian companies accounted for only 5.0% of the total of the top 100 arms sales in 2020.

Russian companies recorded some of the steepest declines in arms sales among the top 100. This coincided with the end of the State Armament Program 2011-2020 and the pandemic-related delays in delivery dates.

Almaz-Antey and United Shipbuilding Corporation saw arms sales drop by 31% and 11%, respectively, unlike the United Aircraft Corporation which arms sales increased by 16%.

The report considered that another major development in the Russian arms industry was the diversification of product lines. Russian companies are currently implementing a government policy to increase their share of civilian sales to 30% of their total sales by 2025 and 50% by 2030.

Other remarkable developments

Arms sales of companies in the top 100 located outside the United States, China, Russia, and Europe, amounted to $43.1 billion in 2020, an increase of 3.4% since 2019. This represents 8.1% of total arms sales in the top 100.

Arms sales to the three Israeli companies included in the top 100 list amounted to $10.4 billion, or 2% of total sales.

The total arms sales of the five Japanese companies listed in the ranking amounted to $9.9 billion in 2020 or 1.9% of total sales.

Four South Korean companies are included in the ranking. Combined arms sales were $6.5 billion in 2020, a year-on-year increase of 4.6%.

The report said the combined arms sales of the three Indian companies included in the top 100 grew by 1.7%. In 2020, the Indian government announced a phased ban on the import of certain types of military equipment to promote self-reliance in arms production.