From: Peace Movement Aotearoa
2005 World Military Spending Data Available
15 June 2006
Kia ora,
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.
The document with chapter summaries is available at http://yearbook2006.sipri.org/sipri-yb06-summaries.pdf/download
Press releases, individual html chapter summaries, and ordering details are at http://yearbook2006.sipri.org
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.
ENDS