2005 World Military Spending Data Available

14 June 2006

The SIPRI Yearbook 2006 'Armaments, Disarmament and International Security' was released earlier this week - the new edition of SIPRI’s annual compendium of data and analysis of developments in security and conflicts, military spending and armaments and non-proliferation, arms control and disarmament.

Among other things, the Yearbook indicates that military expenditure, weapons production and international weapons transfers are all on the rise.

SIPRI reports that world military expenditure in 2005 reached (US)$1,118 billion in current dollars, a real terms increase of 3.4% since 2004, and a 34% rise in the 10 years since 1996. This increase has been accompanied by a 15 per cent rise in the combined weapons sales of the 100 largest weapons-producing companies during 2004.

SIPRI data on both the volume and financial value of international weapons transfers show a sustained increase since 2000-2001. The volume of weapons transferred in 2005 was 30 per cent higher than in 2000. Meanwhile, the financial value of the international arms trade has risen from (US)$27-34 billion in 2001 to (US)$44–53 billion in 2004.

The SIPRI Yearbook 2006 has an introductory section 'The world of peace and security research in a 40-year perspective', and chapters on Euro-Atlantic security and institutions, Major armed conflicts, Peace-building: the new international focus on Africa, Regional security cooperation in the early 21st century, National governance of nuclear weapons: opportunities and constraints, Transparency in the arms life cycle, Military expenditure data: a 40-year overview, Military expenditure, Arms production, International arms transfers, The security dimension of European collective efforts in space, Reflections on continuity and change in arms control, Nuclear arms control and non-proliferation, Chemical and biological warfare developments and arms control, Conventional arms control, and Transfer controls.

Chapter summaries from the 2006 Yearbook are available online here; press releases, individual html chapter summaries, and ordering details are on the Yearbook web site.

SIPRI, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, conducts independent research on armaments, disarmament and international security. SIPRI Yearbook 2006 is published on behalf of SIPRI by Oxford University Press.