HL Deb 27 October 1983 vol 444 c424WA
Lord Boyd-Carpenter

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What percentage of their Gross Domestic Product is spent on their armed forces by:

  • The United Kingdom
  • The USSR
  • The USA
  • France
  • West Germany
  • Spain
  • Argentina

Lord Trefgarne

On the NATO definition of defence expenditure, percentages of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) spent on defence in 1982 were as follows:

UK 5.1%
USA 6.6%
France 4.1%
West Germany 3.4%
It is estimated that the USSR devotes 14–16 per cent. of its GNP to defence. The difference between GNP and GDP is not considered significant for the purpose of this comparison.

Comparable information is not available for Spain (which does not report defence expenditure figures to NATO) or Argentina. For information concerning these countries I refer my noble friend to the International Institute for Strategic Studies' publication The Military Balance, 1983–84.