The war in Ukraine and the conflict in the Gaza Strip have pushed the arms business to a global level: as reported in the latest SIPRI report (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute), in 2024 the top 100 arms manufacturers in the world had a turnover of 679 billion dollars (about 582 billion euros at the current exchange rate), with revenues growing by 5.9% compared to 2023. This is the highest amount ever recorded by the research institute – which began its surveys in the 1990s.
Globally, the United States remains the leader in the sector, with 39 US companies ranking in the top 100 manufacturing companies and overall revenues of 334 billion dollars (290 billion euros).
The United States remains a leader in the weapons sector: the global ranking
Over the last 10 years, the arms business has grown significantly: between 2015 and 2024, global arms revenues increased by 26%.
Overall, the greatest increases in turnover were recorded by Japan (+40%) and Germany (+36%): nevertheless, the United States confirms itself as world leader, covering a slice of revenues equal to 49% of the total market. Special mention for SpaceX, Elon Musk’s company, which doubled its revenue from armaments, positioning itself in 77th place globally. In particular, SpaceX grossed 1.8 billion dollars, or +103% compared to 2023.
In addition to the USA, China, the United Kingdom, Russia and France are in the top 5. Furthermore, for the first time since 2018, all the top 5 weapons manufacturing companies – Lockheed Martin Corp., RTX, Northrop Grumman Corp., BAE Systems and General Dynamics Corp. – recorded growth in their turnover, for a total of 213.4 billion dollars (about 183 billion euros).
The only continent to have recorded a decline, however, is Asia: the total turnover of the 23 arms manufacturing companies based in Asia decreased by 1.2%, falling to 130 billion dollars (111.5 billion euros). This regional decline was mainly caused by a decrease in the revenues of Chinese companies active in the sector, following some corruption investigations which led to the postponement or cancellation of several contracts for the supply of armaments.
Closing out is the Middle East, with 9 companies in the top 100 manufacturers – the highest number ever recorded for this region -, and an increase in sales of 14% between 2023 and 2024. In particular, Israeli companies recorded 16.2 billion dollars in turnover (+16%), an increase attributable both to the conflict in the Gaza Strip, but also to the growing global demand for Israeli military equipment, such as the Elbit military drones Hermes 900 or anti-UAV defense systems (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles).
The production of weapons in Europe and the position of Italy
Looking instead at Europe, the 25 European companies included in the top 100 saw an increase in sales of 13%, for a total of 129.5 billion euros. This is also due to the fact that 65% of European armaments manufacturing companies have expanded their production capacity.
In this context, Italy is positioned as the 6th country for arms sales: 2.5% of the global turnover produced by the sale of arms in 2024 was generated by Italy, equal to approximately 14.5 billion euros. Specifically, between 2023 and 2024 Italian revenues from armaments increased by 9.1%, as visible in the graph below.
And, after NATO agreed to increase military spending to 5% of GDP, this turnover is set to rise further.
