By DPA
New York : The US led the world in 2006 in selling arms to developing countries, according to a government report.
The study by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service said that nearly 36 percent of the weapons bought last year in developing countries were sold by the US, the New York Times reported Monday. The value of the arms was $10.3 billion.
Next was Russia with more than 28 percent of the market, worth $8.1 billion, and Britain at $3.1 billion, or nearly 11 percent.
The top three rankings were the same as in 2005.
More than 60 percent of the global arms market, about $28.8 billion, was in sales to developing countries, a decline of about nine percent from 2005’s $31.8 billion.
Titled Conventional Arms Transfers to Developing Nations, the study found that Pakistan was the number one buyer at $5.1 billion in 2006, followed by India at $3.5 billion. Saudi Arabia was third at $3.2 billion.
Combining both developed and developing countries, the global arms market in 2006 was $40.3 billion, a decline of 13 percent from 2005.