Sales among the world's top 100 defense firms hit an all-time high last year, primarily due to rising demand for weapons in Europe amid the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.

According to data released Monday by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, the combined revenue of the world's top 100 arms-producing and military service companies rose 5.9% from 2023 to 679 billion U.S. dollars last year.

South Korea's four leading companies, Hanwha Group, Hyundai Rotem, LIG Nex1 and Korea Aerospace Industries, made the list for the second year in a row, and Hanwha ranked 21st after coming in 24th in 2023.

The "Big Four" made a combined 14-point-one billion dollars after a 31-percent jump from the previous year, and their revenue accounted for two-point-one percent of the top 100's total, up zero-point-four percentage points from 2023.

South Korea, the No. 10 nation, is one step closer to leapfrogging Germany after beginning full-scale armor shipments to Poland in 2023.