In March of 2017 the Washington D.C. based research and advisory group Global Financial Integrity (GFI) published a report on transnational crime in the developing world.
One aspect of their research involved the illegal weapons trade. The AK-47 is one of the world’s most used assault rifles (yes, we’re using that term correctly). With roughly 200 million rifles in circulation, the AK-47 is incredibly popular with third-world soldiers, militias, and criminals.
GFI investigated how much it would cost to purchase this popular firearm on the black market in different countries around the world. While a locally produced knock-off is incredibly cheap, an honest-to-God Kalashnikov is still pretty expensive. The chart below is a summary of their findings showing the average black market cost of a true AK-47.