U.S. sold almost $42 billion in weapons to foreign governments in 2017

America sold more weapons in the first six months of 2018 than all of fiscal 2017, signing off on $46.9 billion in weapons sales to foreign partners and allies – surging past the 2017 total of $41.9 billion.

The size of the world’s arms market rose by 10% over the five years to December 2017, compared with the previous five years. America’s slice of this expanding pie was 34%, up from 30% in the previous five years. America and its five nearest rivals (in descending order Russia, France, Germany, China and Britain) account for nearly 80% of total sales.