German defence firm count expands nearly sixfold in five years

The Federation of German Security and Defence Industries (BDSV) represented 602 companies as of July, marking a 50% increase compared with November 2025.

According to figures obtained by Euractiv, this figure corresponds to a nearly sixfold increase compared with 2021, prior to the outbreak of the war in Ukraine.

At that time, the Federation had only 111 registered members.

One third of the members are registered in Bavaria. A strong industrial cluster has also been established in North Rhine-Westphalia, whilst Berlin is rapidly closing the gap in this field.

The German government aims to allocate 3.5% of its GDP to defence by 2029.

Germany’s defence expenditure is expected to reach approximately 140 billion euros in 2027. No other European country comes close to this figure.

As a result, the defence sector in Germany is benefiting from these developments and expanding rapidly.

The country’s target of building Europe’s most powerful army, alongside its efforts to restructure the defence sector by setting aside more than 500 billion euros for defence investments over the next few years, is already reflected in the industry’s profits.

Four German companies are included in the top 100 global arms companies index produced by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

According to the institute, the combined defence revenues of these companies increased by 36% to reach approximately 13 billion euros.

However, these major players do not constitute the majority of the sector represented by the BDSV.

Instead, new defence startups and manufacturers exploring the dual-use aspect of the sector account for the majority of new members.