According to an Oxfam report titled, "Ammunition: the Fuel of Conflict," up to 14 billion bullets are now made globally every year enough to shoot every person on the planet twice.
"Figures show that export data exists for only 17 percent of the 10 to 14 billion bullets manufactured every year, leaving up to 10 billion rounds for which no reliable data exists," Oxfam said.
The agency is now pushing for tighter gun control ahead of a UN meeting in New York on June 26 to debate regulating the trade in guns and ammunition.
Oxfam blames lax controls for millions of bullets ending up in war zones and contributes to human rights abuses.
China, Egypt and Iran were named in the report as among the largest ammunition makers but provided no data at all on their ammunition exports, except for shotgun cartridges.
The British-based development charity has said there have been advancements made in regulating the trade in small arms but lawmakers are ignoring the ammunition side of the problem.
UN conference
Oxfam will now go to the UN conference in June and push for tighter controls citing that at least 76 countries now manufacture ammunition but that number is likely to increase.
Its report records that Kenya and Turkey have both become producers in the last 10 years.
Oxfam director Barbara Stocking said in a statement that during the conference, "governments must agree new global principles to govern both the small arms and the ammunition trade".
The report also demands stricter regulations on identification markings on bullet casings.
The agency argues that if bullet casings, which are often left at the scene of crimes and massacres, were properly marked it would make the job of tracking human rights abusers and criminals easier.
Currently, markings only enable the manufacturer to be identified.
In the last five years Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, Sierra Leone and Liberia have been flooded by ammunition, continuing to fuel conflicts in those countries, according to Oxfam.
"Our research shows that new ammunition is widely available on Baghdad's black market," Ms Stocking said.
"There are two likely explanations for this: either it was smuggled in from neighbouring countries or it has leaked from coalition or Iraqi forces' supplies," she said.
"In either case, weak controls mean lives lost on the streets of Baghdad."