HC Deb 04 February 1976 vol 904 c611W
Mr. Kilroy-Silk

asked the Secretary of State for Defence what proportions, respectively, of Government spending or gross national product in the West was formed by defence expenditure in 1950, 1955, 1960, 1965, 1970 and at the latest date for which information is available.

Mr. William Rodgers

No figures are available for 1950. For later years, the averages of defence spending as a percentage of gross national product for NATO countries combined are as follows:

per cent.
1956 9.2
1960 8.3
1965 7.0
1970 6.7
1975 5.3