STOCKHOLM, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- United States companies dominate global arms sales, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said in a report on Monday.
The arms sales of the 40 U.S. companies in the listing of the world's top 100 arms companies totaled 299 billion U.S. dollars in 2021, a slight 0.9 percent decrease compared with 2020, the report said. Since 2018, the world's five largest arms companies have all been based in the United States.
The report also said that a recent wave of mergers and acquisitions in the U.S. arms industry continued in 2021.
"We can probably expect to see stronger action from the U.S. government to limit arms industry mergers and acquisitions in the next few years," Nan Tian, SIPRI senior researcher, said in a press release, adding that "the U.S. Department of Defense has expressed concern that reduced competition in the industry could have knock-on effects on procurement costs and product innovation."
Globally, despite supply chain challenges, sales of arms and military services by the 100 largest companies in the industry reached 592 billion U.S. dollars in 2021, a 1.9 percent increase compared with 2020 in real terms.
The increase marked the seventh consecutive year of rising global arms sales, the report noted.
Many parts of the arms industry were still affected by COVID-19 pandemic-related disruptions in global supply chains in 2021, which included delays in global shipping and shortages of vital components, the report said.
"We might have expected even greater growth in arms sales in 2021 without persistent supply chain issues," Lucie Beraud-Sudreau, director of the SIPRI Military Expenditure and Arms Production Program, said.
SIPRI's research covers international conflicts, armaments, arms control and disarmament. ■