In view of numerous wars and conflicts in the world, the international arms industry has set a new sales record.
December 1, 2025, 10:15 a.mDecember 1, 2025, 10:15 a.m
The world’s 100 largest arms producers increased their revenue from the sale of arms and military services by 5.9 percent after adjusting for currency effects in 2024. The Stockholm peace research institute Sipri announced this in a new report. Together they achieved sales of around 679 billion US dollars – the highest value ever recorded.
The peace researchers report that the demand for armaments was driven by the wars in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip, geopolitical tensions on a global and regional level, and ever-increasing military spending. Many producers have expanded their production lines, enlarged facilities, founded subsidiaries or taken over other companies.
Artillery shells produced by the German arms company Rheinmetall.Image: keystone
The USA remains the absolute leader in the industry: 39 of the world’s 100 largest defense companies have their headquarters there, including the undisputed leader Lockheed Martin as well as RTX and Northrop Grumman in second and third place in the Sipri rankings. Together, after an increase of 3.8 percent, the 39 US companies have arms sales of $334 billion, almost half of the global total.
USA with problems
For the first time, multi-billionaire Elon Musk’s US space company SpaceX (77th place) appeared in the top 100: According to Sipri, the company’s defense revenues have more than doubled to $1.8 billion within a year.
However, weapons production in the USA is not problem-free, as Sipri notes. The independent institute is observing delays and budget overruns in the development and production of key US defense equipment such as the state-of-the-art F-35 fighter jet, Columbia-class submarines and the Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile. This creates uncertainty as to when important new US weapons systems and upgrades for existing systems could be delivered and deployed.
Big increase in sales for German companies – Rheinmetall in the top 20
The 26 defense companies listed in Europe (excluding Russia) increased significantly: their combined sales grew by 13 percent to $151 billion. “This increase was linked to demand due to the war in Ukraine and the perceived threat from Russia,” explains the Peace Research Institute.
The four listed companies from Germany together achieved a jump in sales of a whopping 36 percent to 14.9 billion dollars. According to Sipri, a key reason for this was the demand for ground-based air defense systems, ammunition and armored vehicles associated with the Russian threat situation.
Germany’s largest arms company Rheinmetall grew particularly strongly by 47 percent to around 8.2 billion dollars. This means that the group climbed up six places in the list and is now in 20th place. ThyssenKrupp (ranked 61st), Hensoldt (62nd) and Diehl (67th) also all achieved double-digit jumps in sales, meaning that they also moved up several places each. Airbus (13th place), MBDA (30th) and KNDS (42nd) are classified by Sipri as trans-European corporations.
This is how wars affect arms revenue
A Ukrainian apartment block after a Russian missile attack.Image: keystone
Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine also affects the numbers of defense companies in the two countries: The Ukrainian company JSC Ukrainian Defense Industry increased its arms sales by 41 percent to $3 billion. The two Russian companies Rostec and United Shipbuilding Corporation together achieved an increase of 23 percent to 31.2 billion dollars – even though international sanctions caused some armament components to become scarce. According to Sipri, the Russian military’s own needs more than made up for the losses caused by falling arms exports.
The Gaza Strip is in ruins after the war.Image: keystone
And the Gaza war? Israel’s military action in the Gaza Strip contributed to increased sales for the three Israeli companies in the list, which together recorded an increase of 16 percent to $16.2 billion. On the other hand, global interest in advanced Israeli military equipment hardly abated – despite growing international criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza. Rather, several states would have placed new orders with Israeli companies in 2024, noted Sipri expert Subaida Karim.
China with problems – and a challenge for Europe
Meanwhile, Sipri warns of growing challenges in the procurement of the materials required for arms production in Europe’s rearmament efforts. Sipri researcher Jade Guiberteau Ricard estimated that the dependence on critical minerals in particular would make European rearmament plans more difficult. For such minerals, Europe is heavily dependent on supplies from China, which has a virtual monopoly position when it comes to rare earths, for example.
According to peace researchers, the Chinese arms industry itself is struggling with completely different problems. “A series of allegations of corruption in Chinese arms procurement have led to major arms contracts being postponed or canceled in 2024,” reported Sipri expert Nan Tian.
One consequence of this is that Chinese arms sales fell by 10 percent. As a result, they fell by 1.2 percent to $130 billion in the Asia and Oceania region overall – despite significant increases in Japan and South Korea. This made this region of the world the only one with declining numbers.
Greenpeace: Europe is becoming an armament hotspot
With regard to the Sipri figures, Greenpeace comments that arms production is increasingly shifting towards Europe. While the revenues of US corporations have only increased moderately and even fallen in China, they have literally exploded on the local continent, Greenpeace disarmament expert Alexander Lurz told the German Press Agency. “Europe is increasingly becoming a hotspot for global armament.”
The global all-time high in arms sales shows that the international community is moving faster and faster on the wrong path. “Security and peace certainly won’t come about that way,” complained Lurz.
The Sipri database on global arms sales was launched in 1989. Since 2015, the independent institute’s data has also included information from Chinese companies. Sipri includes all sales of heavy weapons and military services to military customers at home and abroad. (leo/con/sda/dpa)