MOSCOW, March 17 (RIA Novosti) – The United States and Russia combined supplied over half of all arms exports worldwide in the past five years, according to new data on the industry compiled by a European think tank.
The US topped the list of arms exporting countries, accounting for 29 percent of shipments worldwide in the five year period through 2013, with Russia taking second place with 27 percent, according to the report published Monday by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
Germany came in third with 7 percent, followed by China (6 percent), which recently surpassed fifth-place France (5 percent).
The report noted the volume of Russian shipments has been tending to increase, despite economic difficulties. In particular, Indian weapons imports more than doubled in the past decade, with Russia supplying 75 percent of all arms sales to India in the past five years.
“Russia has maintained high levels of arms exports despite the crisis in its arms industry in the post-Cold War period,” researcher Siemon Wezeman was quoted as saying in a press release.
The report noted that aircraft made up the bulk of US arms sales, while Russia also focused on warships, with major markets in India, China and Algeria.
The data published on Monday are part of the institute’s yearbook, “SIPRI 2014.” The database is compiled from public sources of information on international transfers of weapons.
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) was founded in 1966 as an independent think tank for research on conflicts, weapons, arms control and disarmament.
