According to the latest Stockholm International Peace
Research Institute (SIPRI) report, the world’s top 100 arms manufacturers
earned a staggering US$679 billion in 2024 — the highest figure in more than 35
years of monitoring. The trend is unmistakable - the more insecure the world
becomes, the richer the military-industrial complex grows.
SIPRI notes that rising geopolitical tensions, nuclear
weapons modernization, and sustained conflicts drove the bulk of the increase.
A remarkable 77 of the Top 100 companies boosted their revenues, and 42
recorded double-digit growth.
For the
first time since 2018, all five of the largest defence companies — Lockheed
Martin, RTX, Northrop Grumman, BAE Systems and General Dynamics — expanded
their earnings simultaneously, raking in a combined US$215 billion. Four of
these giants are American; the fifth is British.
Europe and North America led the surge, but increases were
registered across almost all regions — except Asia and Oceania, where Chinese
industry struggles dragged totals down.
One of
the most troubling profit spikes came from the Gaza war. Israel’s leading arms
producers — Elbit Systems, Israel Aerospace Industries, and Rafael Advanced
Defense Systems — collectively increased revenues by 16% to US$16.2 billion, as
the assault on the enclave killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and
flattened civilian infrastructure. The numbers expose a stark reality - war
zones are becoming revenue streams.
In the United States — responsible for nearly half of all
global arms revenue — a new entrant emerged. SpaceX, owned by billionaire Elon
Musk, entered the Top 100 for the first time, more than doubling its arms
revenue to US$1.8 billion. Musk’s deep alignment with US political power,
including major donations to Donald Trump and Republican candidates,
underscores how closely defence profits now intertwine with political
influence.
The SIPRI figures raise a sobering question, when conflict
becomes profitable, who is truly invested in peace?
