What is the cost of UK National Defence?
For the fiscal year ending in March 2025:
Uk Defence spending is budgeted to be £61.6 billion.
UK National Defence Analysis
This page shows the recent trends in UK national defence.
Recent UK Defence Spending
Chart S.11t: Recent UK Defence Spending
Chart S.12t: Recent UK Def. Spend as Pct GDP
In 2000 UK defence spending was less that £28 billion. But after 9/11 the government increased defence spending,
year on year, reaching £45 billion in 2011. In 2017 and 2018 defence spending has
started to increase.
For the year ending March 2024 defence spending was
£60.3 billion.
In terms of Gross Domestic Product UK defence spending was 2.85 percent of GDP in 2000. But from 2002 to 2009 defence
spending was constant at about 2.65-2.70 percent GDP. Since the Great Recession, defence spending been in steady
decline, breaking below 2.4 percent GDP in 2016.
For the year ending March 2024 defence spending was
2.3 percent GDP.
UK Defence Since World War II
Chart S.13t: UK Defence since 1947
In 1947, in the aftermath of World War II, UK defence spending was 16 percent of GDP, but declined to 6 percent of GDP
by 1950.
But then came the Korean War, and defence spending increased to 11.2 percent GDP in 1952. Thereafter it declined through
the rest of the 1950s to 7 percent GDP by 1959.
In the 1960s defence spending declined slowly, dropping through 7 percent GDP in 1963 and then holding steady until
defence budget cuts at the end of the 1960 reduced defence spending to 5.4 percent GDP in 1970.
Defence spending was pretty steady at 5.4-5.5 percent GDP in the 1970s, peaking at 5.95 percent GDP in 1982 and the
Falklands War. Thereafter defence spending declined to 5.3 percent GDP in the mid 1980s, and dropped through 5.0 percent
in 1987, before stablizing at 4 percent of GDP in the early 1990s.
In the mid 1990s after the ERM exit defence spending was cut, declining to 3 percent GDP in 1997, and continuing a decline
to 2.63 percent GDP in 2003.
In the mid 2000s, defence spending was increased to 2.6-2.7 percent GDP, but since the Great Recession defence spending has
declined to about 2.4-2.5 percent GDP.
UK Defence Spending Since 1900
Chart S.14t: UK Defence since 1900
The beginning of the 20th century sees Britain cranking defence spending up to 7 percent of GDP
in the Boer War. Then, in World War I, the government manages to extract over 45 percent of GDP,
peaking at 47 percent of GDP in 1918
to fight the war in France.
The heroic national sacrifice of WWI was exceeded in World War II, when defence spending peaked at over
52 percent of GDP in 1945.
The Korean War showed a blipin defence spending up to 11 percent of GDP, and thereafter defence spending went into a
long withdrawing roar, declining to 5 percent of GDP in 1986 at the end of the Cold War. In the 2010s, defence spending holds at about 2.4 percent of GDP.
UK Defence Spending Since the Glorious Revolution
Chart S.15t: UK Defence since 1900
The whole point of the Glorious Revolution was to help the Dutch with the French, and so
John Churchill helped win the War of the Spanish Succession in the first decade of the 18th century, earning the dukedom of Marlborough. HM defence spending almost hit 20 percent of GDP in 1711.
Then in the 1740s it was the War of Austrian Succession and defence spending exceeded 11 percent of GDP in 1748.
In the 1750s wars with the French
over North America defence spending peaked at 19 percent of GDP in 1761.
In the 1770s the North American colonists rebelled in the American Revolution and defence
spending exceeded 12 percent of GDP in 1782.
During the 20 years of the Napoleonic Wars from 1795 to 1815 defence spending exceeded 10 percent
of GDP for every year except 1803 and 1804 and peaked at 22.5 percent of GDP in 1814.
There were brief blips of defence spending for the Crimean and Boer Wars, but the real action was
the two world wars in the 20th century, when defence spending exceeded 40 percent of GDP for eight
of the 10 years of conflict.
Spending Data Sources
Expenditure data since 1983 comes from HM Treasury’s
Public Expenditure Statistical Analysis reports.
Detailed table of spending data sources here.
Gross Domestic Product data comes from measuringworth.com.
Central government spending data begins in 1692.
Local authority spending data begins in 1868.
