Countries imports and exports

Defence trade rose by 13.4 per cent to $64.4 billion, or £42.8 billion, at the time of research.

So which countries were most involved in the trade of weapons?

Saudi Arabia overtook India in 2014 to become the world’s biggest buyer of weapons. The country increased its importing of weapons by 54 per cent during the year.

Meanwhile the US was the main beneficiary of the growth in the weapons market, supplying one third of all exports.

This record figure has been driven by unparalleled demand from the emerging economies for military aircraft and an escalation of regional tensions in the Middle East and Asia Pacific.

The Middle East is the biggest regional market and there are $110 billion in opportunities in coming decade.

The UK ranked fourth for defence exports, with $4.2 billion worth.

The entire arms market was included in the research, except for munitions and small arms - anything under 57mm caliber was not included in the study.