SIPRI Finds Record Arms Buildup Worldwide in 2024

New Delhi: The combined revenues of the world's largest arms producing and military service provider companies rose 5.9% in 2024. This was largely due to United States and European companies doing brisk business. China, on the other hand, led the Asia and Oceania region to a slight decline in arms revenues over the year. Revenues of arms producers grew in the rest of the world.

These are the findings of the report on armament producers and military service providers, prepared by the Stolkhom International Peace Research Institute or SIPRI and released Monday, December 1, 2025.

The latest report says the yearly rise in the arms and related services business was the highest ever SIPRI recorded: US $679 billion over 2024.

The decade from 2015 to 2024 was also good for arms producers and military service providers, SIPRI reported. Their businesses grew an overall 26% over those ten years.

In 2024, 77 of the top armament 100 companies increased their revenues, while 42% saw large increases, of 10% or more.

Japan-based armament companies saw a 40% increase in their revenues. This applies to Japanese companies on the Top 100 list of SIPRI.

"All five companies [featuring in the top 100] reported double-digit percentage growth in arms revenues, driven by strong domestic demand amid Japan’s ongoing military build-up programme," SIPRI noted.

Russia-based companies' revenues rose 23%, while Israel-registered companies', also on the Top 100 list, revenues grew a total 16%. This was due to Israel's war on Gaza as well as demand for Israeli military equipment from other countries.

The report said, "Two companies more than doubled their arms revenues: Czechoslovak Group (+193%; rank 46) and SpaceX (+103%; rank 77)."

SIPRI has recorded rising geopolitical tensions as the key reason behind these increases. It said 65% of European armament companies (numbering 38 on the continent) ramped up production or expanded in other ways (through acquisitions or by floating new subsidiaries) in 2024, to try and keep up with the growing demand for weaponry.

Countries are ordering more arms even if they have supplies pending from previous orders, the report said.

SIPRI noted that it is "likely that other arms companies beyond the 38 identified also expanded their production capacity during the year – including most Russian companies and some privately owned companies – but it is not
possible to make an assessment due to a lack of publicly available information".

The two Russian companies for which data was available increased their total arms revenues by 23% (US $31.2 billion) to meet domestic orders from the war
in Ukraine, SIPRI noted.

Four of the top five arms companies (by size), which are based in the United States, expanded in 2024, including Lockheed Martin, RDX, Northrop Grumman and General Dynamics, SIPRI noted. This was Lockheed Martin's first revenue expansion since 2010, going by SIPRI findings.

Indian arms manufacturers were on an upswing in 2024. The SIPRI report, the last for 2025, found the the aggregate arms revenues of the three companies in India (on the Top 100 list) rose by 8.2% to US $7.5 billion in 2024.

"Hindustan Aeronautics (rank 44) remained the biggest arms producer in India, with arms revenues of $3.8 billion, which were 0.3% lower than in 2023," SIPRI said.

"Bharat Electronics (rank 58) recorded the biggest increase in arms revenues among Indian companies in the Top 100," it said.

Bharat Electronics' revenues rose 24% to $2.5 billion as a result of orders
from the Indian government for radars and electronic warfare systems, said the report.

SIPRI noted that in 2024 four companies based in Germany were in the Top 100. "Taken together, their arms revenues increased by 36% to $14.9 billion," the report said, and it said, "Of the four, Diehl (rank 67) recorded the largest year-on-year percentage increase in arms revenues: up by 53% to $2.1 billion."

However, the combined arms revenues of the eight companies on the Top 100 ist and which are based in China, decreased by 10% to US $88.3 billion in 2024. This was the biggest aggregate percentage decrease of any country with companies listed in the top 100 for 2024, said the SIPRI report.

"Six of the eight companies [registered in China] recorded falling arms revenues in 2024 amid multiple allegations of corruption in the procurement process, which led to delays in new procurement and reviews of existing contracts," SIPRI said.

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