The World : Global Arms Trade Down

The global trade in conventional weapons amounted to nearly $34 billion last year, down $5.5 billion from 1987’s record level, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said. The institute, the world authority on the international arms trade, said in its 1989 yearbook that it recorded sales in 1988 of $33.97 billion, down from the record 1987 figure of $39.5 billion. It also showed a long-term decline in Third World arms imports, from 68% of all sales in 1984 to 61% last year. “The overall size of the global arms trade market has remained stable in the 1980s but has stabilized at a high level,” the report said.