SIPRI 100

Arms sales by the SIPRI Top 100 arms producing companies in 2006 totaled $315 billion.

To view the SIPRI list of Top 100 arms-producing companies please click here. (PDF, 122kb)

The list contains financial data on the world's 100 largest arms-producing companies in 2006. The list does not cover China. Figures are in US$ million, at current prices and exchange rates. To better understand this data and the definitions on which it is based, it is important to consult our sources and methods.

Also see maps:

	National distribution of the SIPRI Top 100 largest arms-producing companies, 2006
	Location of the SIPRI Top 100 largest arms-producing companies, 2006

The SIPRI Top 100 in 2006 was dominated by US companies, as in previous years. 41 US companies accounted for 63% of the total arms sales of the Top 100. 34 Western European firms accounted for 29%. Of the remainder, the countries with the highest company arms sales in the Top 100 were Russia with eight companies (1.9 per cent of Top 100 arms sales), Japan with four (1.7 per cent), Israel with four (1.5 per cent) and India with three (1.1 per cent). (See table below)

The companies in the SIPRI Top 100 for 2006 increased their combined arms sales by 9 per cent in nominal terms and 5 per cent in real terms, a slightly lower rate of growth than in 2005. However, comparing the Top 100 companies in 2006 with the set of companies included in the Top 100 for 2005, the combined arms sales increased by 8 per cent in nominal terms and by 4 per cent in real terms

Table: Regional and national shares of the SIPRI Top 100

NB: The figures below represent the arms sales of companies headquartered in the given country or region, not where the production actually takes place.

Notes: Numbers may not always add up due to rounding. Figures for 2005 refer to the arms sales of the same companies in 2005. EADS is classified as Trans-European. Figures for Germany, India and South Korea include estimates for some companies with a moderate degree of uncertainty. Figures for Japan refer to contracts with the Japan Defence Agency, rather than actual sales.

China

The Chinese arms industry is developing rapidly, in size as well as technological level, and Chinese arms-producing enterprises would almost certainly be included in the SIPRI Top 100 were dat available. However, due to the lack of comparable financial data for these enterprises, it is not currently possible to include them. For an estimate of China’s arms production, see Surry, E., ‘An estimate of the value of Chinese arms production’.

For more information, see Perlo–Freeman, S. & Sköns, E., Arms Production, Chapter 6 in SIPRI Yearbook 2008: Armaments, Disarmament & International Security, Oxford: OUP.