HC Deb 20 June 1988 vol 135 cc427-8W
Mr. Cohen

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was the total value of the United Kingdom arms exports in the last five years for which figures are available; what equivalent information he has about the United States of America; what is his estimate for 1988–89 for the United Kingdom; and what equivalent information he has for the United States of America.

Mr. Sainsbury

The total recorded value of deliveries of United Kingdom defence export equipment for the calendar years 1982–86 is assessed at £10,198 million. The equivalent United States figure (derived from the United States arms control and disarmament agency) is $51,460 million. Both figures are at current prices.

Equivalent figures for 1987 and 1988 United Kingdom defence exports are not yet available. (SDE Volume 2 gives only an incomplete figure for 1987). I am not aware of any estimates for United States arms exports for the same period.

The United Kingdom figures refer to actual deliveries of defence equipment as opposed to defence sales contracts signed during 1987 (vide para 420 Vol. 1 SDE 88).