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SIPRI: Arms firms profit heavily from war in Ukraine

2025-12-02 09:25:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Arms companies have never earned so much as in 2024. This is stated in the report of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) on the 100 largest arms manufacturing companies in the world. Last year, their income from the sale of weapons and military services reached 679 billion dollars.

This represents an increase of 5.9 percent compared to 2023. Even then, the escalation of geopolitical tensions and above all the war in Ukraine led to an increase in demand for weapons. This trend accelerated further in 2024.

So is the war in Ukraine good for business? "For the defense sector, definitely," Nan Tian, ??one of the authors of the SIPRI report, told DW. "Over the past two years, these arms companies have significantly increased their revenues." They have developed new military equipment, replenished stocks, and destroyed equipment has been replaced.

German companies with particularly high profits

Of the 100 companies listed, 39 are based in the US, which is undoubtedly the most important country for the arms industry. These 39 companies generate almost half of the world's revenue from arms sales. However, their growth of 3.8 percent is still relatively modest. Meanwhile, the 26 European companies (excluding Russia) recorded a combined 13 percent increase in revenue.

German companies even achieved a 36 percent increase. "This is almost entirely due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine," says Nan Tian. "There was a higher demand from the German armed forces, the Bundeswehr. Companies like Rheinmetall and Diehl produced tanks, armored personnel carriers for military teams, and ammunition to replace those sent to Ukraine as military aid, but also to increase their own reserves."

Russia's war economy defies sanctions

Russia ranks alone in the SIPRI report. And it is not surprising that Russian arms manufacturers experienced particularly strong growth. Their export revenues fell due to international sanctions, but domestic demand increased significantly and more than compensated for the losses.

But Russia is a special case, Nan Tian points out. “The country has completely changed its priorities. Over the past three years, its economy and production have transformed into a war economy.” All resources have been channeled into war. For example, between 2022 and 2024, according to the SIPRI report, Russia increased its production of 152 mm artillery shells by 420 percent: from 250,000 to 1.3 million.

Nan Tian believes that the transformation of the Russian economy has gone so far that, in the event of a lasting peace in Ukraine, it would be difficult to return to a non-war economy. /DW