§ Mr. KeyTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the defence expenditure of NATO countries in 1996(a) as a percentage of gross domestic product (market price), (b) as total national defence spending, (US $m) and (c) per capita defence expenditure, (US $). [29449]
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§ Dr. Reid[holding answer 16 February 1998]: The information requsted for calender year 1996 is as follows
Defence expenditure as a percentage of GDP Percentage Greece 4.5 Turkey 4.1 United States 3.7 France 3.0 United Kingdom 3.0 Portugal 2.5 Norway 2.4 Netherlands 2.0 Italy 1.9 Denmark 1.8 Germany 1.7 Belgium 1.6 Spain 1.5 Canada 1.5 Luxembourg 0.8
Defence expenditure in US$ million US$ million United States 271,802 France 46,402 Germany 38,990 United Kingdom 34,526 Italy 23,458 Spain 8,616 Canada 8,616 Netherlands 7,850 Turkey 7,424 Greece 5,582 Belgium 4,240 Norway 3,672 Denmark 3,086 Portugal 2,601 Luxembourg 141
Defence expenditure per capita (US$) US$ United States 1,023 Norway 838 France 794 Denmark 589 United Kingdom 587 Greece 531 Netherlands 504 Germany 475 Belgium 417 Italy 409 Luxembourg 338 Canada 287 Portugal 262 Spain 219 Turkey 118 The figures are our latest estimates and are based on information drawn from NATO sources. They update the provisional figures published in October 1997 in the MOD Performance Report 1996/97 (CM 3781).
560WThe figures have been calculated using 1996 average market exchange rates, which do not necessarily reflect the relative purchasing power of individual currencies. They are therefore only a guide to comparative defence effort.
For the UK, the defence budget in the financial year 1996–97 amounted to 3.0 per cent. of GDP; and in 1997–98 and 1998–99 is estimated to amount to 2.7 per cent. of GDP in both years.