Top three Indian arms producers to figure in the SIPRI 100 had a combined revenue of $ 6.7 Billion. Comparatively the nine Chinese companies clocked $ 103 Billion.
SIPRIs list of top 100 Arms Producers has been released on December 02, 2024. It is not surprising that revenues from sales of arms and military services by the 100 largest companies in the industry reached $632 billion in 2023, a real-terms increase of 4.2 per cent compared with 2022. The new data released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), available at www.sipri.org.
As anticipated arms revenue increases were seen across the board reflecting conflict trends globally with 2023 also seeing a major War breaking out in the Middle East following that in Ukraine which has been ongoing since February 2022.
SIPRI notes that in 2023 many arms producers ramped up their production in response to surging demand. The total arms revenues of the Top 100 bounced back after a dip in 2022.
Almost three quarters of companies increased their arms revenues year-on-year. Notably, most of the companies that increased their revenues were in the lower half of the Top 100.
India
Three Indian companies all Defence Public Sector Undertakings [DPSUS] are in the top 100 – Hindustan Aeronautics, Bharat Electronics Ltd and Mazagon Docks Ltd. HAL’s ranking was constant at 43 from 2022 to 2023 while BEL was down two notches from 65 to 67 in 2023. Mazagon Docks scaled up from 96 to 94 in 2023.
SIPRI notes that the aggregate arms revenues of the three companies in India in the Top 100
rose by 5.8 per cent to $6.7 billion in 2023. Hindustan Aeronautics (rank 43) was the biggest arms producer in India, with arms revenues of $3.7 billion mainly manufacturing of light combat aircraft and helicopters. BEL revenues was $ 1.94 Billion while MDL recorded a revenue of $ 1.090.
The modest increase denotes the overall trend which is being flagged by the Ministry of Defence wherein defence production both public and private sectors has crossed the Rs 100,000 Crore [ $ 11.9 Billion] marker in 2023-24 Indian accounting year from March 23 to April 24.
China
Compared to China which had nine Chinese companies listed in the Top 100, with three in the top 10. Their combined arms revenues of $103 billion accounted for 16 per cent of the Top 100 total in 2023, placing China second, after the USA, among countries represented in the ranking. The 0.7 per cent year-on-year increase in aggregatearms revenues was the lowest annual level of growth since 2019 for Chinese companies with at least five of the nine companies recorded decreases in arms revenues amid China’s deepening economic slowdown States SIPRI.
Rest of the World Extracts
The 41 companies in the Top 100 based in the United States recorded arms revenues of $317 billion, half the total arms revenues of the Top 100 and 2.5 per cent more than in 2022. Since 2018, the top five companies in the Top 100 have all been based in the USA.
The combined arms revenues of the 27 Top 100 companies based in Europe (excluding Russia) totalled $133 billion in 2023. This was only 0.2 per cent more than in 2022, the smallest increase in any world region.
The two Russian companies listed in the Top 100 saw their combined revenues increase by 40 per cent to reach an estimated $25.5 billion. This was almost entirely due to the 49 per cent increase in arms revenues recorded by Rostec, a state-owned holding company controlling many arms producers, including seven previously listed in the Top 100 for which individual revenue data could not be obtained.
The 23 companies in the Top 100 based in Asia and Oceania recorded 5.7 per cent arms revenue growth year-on-year, to reach $136 billion. The four South Korea-based companies recorded a combined 39 per cent increase in arms revenues to reach $11.0 billion. The five companies based in Japan saw their combined arms revenues rise by 35 per cent to $10.0 billion. A policy of military build-up in Japan since 2022 drove a flurry of domestic orders, with some companies seeing the value of new orders increase more than 300 per cent.
Six of the Top 100 arms companies were based in the Middle East. Their combined arms revenues grew by 18 per cent to $19.6 billion. With the outbreak of war in Gaza, the arms revenues of the three companies based in Israel in the Top 100 reached $13.6 billion. This was the highest figure ever recorded by Israeli companies in the SIPRI Top 100. The three companies based in Türkiye saw their arms revenues grow by 24 per cent to $6.0 billion, benefiting from exports prompted by the war in Ukraine and from the Turkish government’s continued push towards self-reliance in arms production.
Other notable developments
• The nine companies in the Top 100 based in China saw their smallest year-on-year percentage increase in arms revenues (+0.7 per cent) since 2019 amid a slowing economy.
Their total arms revenues in 2023 reached $103 billion.
• The combined arms revenues of the three Indian companies in the Top 100 increased to $6.7 billion (+5.8 per cent).
• NCSIST, the only Taiwan-based company in the Top 100, recorded a 27 per cent increase in its arms revenues to $3.2 billion.
• Türkiye’s Baykar produces armed uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) that have been widely used in the war in Ukraine. Exports accounted for around 90 per cent of its arms revenues in 2023, which increased by 25 per cent over the year to $1.9 billion.
• The United Kingdom’s Atomic Weapons Establishment, which designs, manufactures and maintains nuclear warheads, recorded the largest year-on-year percentage increase in arms revenues (+16 per cent) among UK companies in the Top 100, to reach $2.2 billion.
[Based on SIPRI Fact Sheet and Press Release of 2 December 2024]
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