WASHINGTON. Aug 7: The United States remained the world's biggest exporter of arms in 1998. accounting for about a third of the total, despite worldwide demand has been slumping, the US Congressional Research Service said Friday in an annual review of arms sales, reports Xinhua.

Last year, the United States led in new arms deals, with 7.1 billion US dollars, up from 5.7 billion US dollars in the previous year.

Germany ranked second, with 5.5 billion US dollars in new sales, and France third, with 3 billion US dollars.

The value of all new arms sales worldwide in 1998 was 23 billion US dollars, up from 21.4 billion US dollars the year before.

However, the report said that the trend in terms of arms sales has generally been downward, particularly among developing nations, which are the biggest buyers of weapons. Since 1995, total arms sales declined by 23.2 per cent.

The Asian financial crisis and low oil prices have contributed to the decline in demand. the report said. . .

The biggest buyers of arms last year was Saudi Arabia, with 7.9 billion US dollars in new sales. The United Arab Emirates ranked second at 2.5 billion US dollars. Malaysia ranked third, with 2.1 billion US dollars.