OREANDA-NEWS World’s arms manufacturers continued to increase sales in 2017. Russian defense companies came in second position after the United States, surpassing British firms, according to the report on the situation of military production and exports in the world. It was published on Monday by the Stockholm Institute of research.

The statistics include data on 100 leading manufacturers, among which the first place is occupied by us companies, and the second position belongs to Russian firms. Before that, the second line belonged to the UK, which was on it since 2002.

In monetary terms, the total sales of the top 100 largest companies is $ 398.2 billion, which is 2.5% more than in 2016 and 44% compared to 2002 (when the first comparative data appeared, there is no information about China). Thus, 2017 was the third consecutive year of growth in arms sales of the world's leading manufacturers.

Stockholm international peace research Institute (SIPRI) concluded that Russia for the first time since the early 2000s came in second place in the world for the production of weapons, reports AP. According to researchers who base their materials on data on arms sales, Russia still lags behind the US, but managed to get around the UK.

Scientists in Sweden came to the conclusion that in 2017, sales of Russian weapons increased by 8.5%. Thus, Moscow received 9.5% of the world market, the total value of which is estimated at $ 398.2 billion.

The representative of the Stockholm Institute Simon Viseman points out that Russian arms manufacturers have consistently increased market share since 2011. At the same time, the concern Almaz-Antey Swedish Institute for the first time included in the list of the largest arms manufacturers in the world.

The US, however, continues to lead, occupying 57% of the global arms market. The Stockholm Institute named Lockheed Martin Corp - the largest company on the market.

As for the fastest growing companies, they represent Turkey, said Vizeman. According to him, Ankara is trying to reduce its dependence on foreign arms suppliers.

Stockholm indicated that data on the world arms market would not include information from China, as companies from that country did not provide relevant information.