Inside Story

Global arms trade: Who are the winners?

As several countries spend more and more on weapons, we discuss who benefits from the arms business.

India is the world’s top arms importer, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

The SIPRI think-tank says India imported about three times as many arms as China and Pakistan in the last five years.

The list of other top arms importers includes China, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

The largest arms suppliers worldwide between 2009 and 2013 were the United States, Russia, Germany, China and France. They collectively accounted for 74 per cent of total arms exports, SIPRI reported.

But why this shopping spree? And who are the big winners of the growing arms trade?

Presenter: Jane Dutton.

Guests: Pieter Wezeman, senior researcher with SIPRI’s arms transfers programme.

Ben Moores, senior analyst at IHS Jane’s DS Forecast.