§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was the percentage of GNP spent on defence procurement in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement. [127176]
§ Dr. MoonieChanges introduced under the European System of Accounts (ESA) 95 mean that GNP is no longer calculated. Gross National Income (GNI) is now recognised as the accepted, more accurate, standard and this has been used to provide the comparison with expenditure on Defence Equipment set out in the table. The GNI figure for 1999–2000 will not be available until the end of June and an updated reply will be made available at that time.
Financial year Expenditure on defence equipment £ million GNI £ million Expenditure on defence equipment as a percentage of GNI 1998£99 9,785 866,461 1.13 1997£98 9,003 822,720 1.09 1996£97 9,100 771,837 1.18 1995£96 8,537 723,960 1.18 1994£95 8,819 689,421 1.28 1993£94 9,200 646,273 1.42 1992£93 8,711 609,755 1.43 1991£92 9,758 585,515 1.67 1990£91 8,838 556,784 1.59