HC Deb 04 March 1980 vol 980 cc118-24W
Mr. Newens

asked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the amount spent on defence per head of population by the United Kingdom and each of her partners in NATO for each year from 1970 to the present, together with the amount per head planned for as many years ahead as is known; and if he will provide corresponding figures for each of the members of the Warsaw Pact.

Mr. Pym

The information requested for NATO countries for each year between 1970 and 1979 is set out in the table below. The NATO definition of defence expenditure has been used throughout. Figures relating to future years are not available. Corresponding figures for members of the Warsaw Pact are not known, since those countries do not publish reliable information about their defence expenditure. However, estimates of military expenditure by the Soviet Union suggest that expenditure per capita increased from about 170 roubles in 1970 to about 270 roubles in 1978. It is not possible to express these amounts satisfactorily in dollars since the official exchange rate does not adequately reflect the purchasing power of the rouble.

PER CAPITA DEFENCE EXPENDITURES (HUS)
Country 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 (provisional)
Belgium 78 86 106 133 152 197 215 254 322 374
Canada 93 98 104 109 131 136 158 166 174 172
Denmark 75 87 98 116 144 182 185 208 257 297
France 116 123 144 182 190 247 253 280 349 413
Germany 105 123 150 199 230 255 259 291 360 412
Greece 54 58 65 75 90 151 Not available
Italy 47 55 68 75 79 85 77 91 110 128
Luxembourg 24 26 34 44 51 63 71 81 104 117
Netherlands 84 97 115 145 172 210 215 272 309 353
Norway 100 110 125 152 179 227 243 276 322 356
Portugal 48 57 66 72 107 81 64 59 63 78
Turkey 16 16 19 23 29 Not available
United Kingdom 106 123 146 155 173 204 199 213 261 340
United States 380 362 372 372 405 426 423 465 496 555

The conversion to United States dollars has been made using average exchange rates for each year.

Mr. Newens

asked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the percentage of gross national product spent on defence by the United Kingdom and each of her partners in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation for each year from 1970 to the present, together with the percentage planned for as many years ahead as is known; and if he will provide corresponding figures for each of the members of the Warsaw Pact.

Mr. Pym

NATO now calculates defence expenditure as a proportion of gross domestic product. The information requested for NATO countries for each year between 1970 and 1979 is set out in the table below. Figures relating to future years are not available. Corresponding figures for members of the Warcountries do not publish reliable informasaw Pact are not known since those tion about their defence expenditure. However, it is estimated that throughout the period the Soviet Union devoted between 11 and 13 per cent. of its gross national product to military purposes.

DEFENCE EXPENDITURE AS A PERCENTAGE OF GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT AT MARKET PRICES
Country 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 (provisional)
Belgium 2.9 2.9 2.9 2.8 2.8 3.1 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.3
Canada 2.4 2.2 2.1 1.9 1.9 1.9 1.9 1.9 2.0 1.8
Denmark 2.3 2.4 2.2 2.0 2.3 2.4 2.3 2.3 2.4 2.4
France 4.2 4.0 3.9 3.8 3.7 3.8 3.8 3.9 4.0 4.0
Germany 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.5 3.6 3.6 3.5 3.4 3.4 3.3
Greece 4.8 4.7 4.6 4.1 4.3 6.5 Not available
Italy 2.5 2.7 2.9 2.7 2.6 2.5 2.3 2.4 2.4 2.3
Luxembourg 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.1 1.0
Netherlands 3.5 3.4 3.4 3.3 3.3 3.5 3.3 3.5 3.3 3.3
Norway 3.5 3.4 3.3 3.1 3.0 3.2 3.1 3.1 3.3 3.2
Portugal 7.1 7.4 6.9 6.0 7.4 5.3 4.0 3.5 3.5 3.8
Turkey 4.3 4.5 4.3 4.1 3.9 Not available
United Kingdom 4.8 4.9 5.2 4.8 5.1 5.0 5.0 4.8 4.7 4.9
United States 7.9 7.1 6.6 6.0 6.1 6.0 5.4 5.4 5.1 5.2