Sales of U.S. weapons soar

America sold more weapons in the first six months of 2018 than all of fiscal 2017, signing off on $46.9 billion in weapons sales to foreign partners and allies – surging past the 2017 total of $41.9 billion


TOP THREE U.S. CLIENTS (% of exports)
United States
Australia 6.7% 
Saudi Arabia 18%
UAE 7.4%


GLOBAL SHARE OF MAJOR ARMS EXPORTS, 2013-17 (%)

U.S. 34% of market

Russia 22%
France 6.7%
Germany, 5.8%
China, 5.7%
UK, 4.8%
Spain, 2.9% 
Israel, 2.9%
Italy, 2.5%
Netherlands 2.1%
Other 10%

74.2%


CHANGE IN VOLUME OF ARMS EXPORTS 2008-12 TO 2013-17 (%)

Top five arms sellers, accounting for 74.2% of global arms exports

U.S. 25
Russia -7.1
France 27
Germany -14
China 38

40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
-5
-10
-15


TREND IN INTERNATIONAL TRANSFERS OF MAJOR WEAPONS, 1978–2017

SIPRI trend-indicator value: Measure of volume of international transfers of major weapons

50
40
30
20
10
0
1980 85 90 95 00 05 10 15


Sources: Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Defense News 
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