§ Lord Shore of Stepneyasked Her Majesty's Government:
What percentage of gross domestic product was accounted for by defence expenditure in the following years: 1946, 1951, 1956, 1961, 1966, 1971, 1976, 1981, 1986, 1991 and 1996; what was the proportion of GDP spent on defence in the last available year; and what is their estimate of the percentage of GDP that will be taken by defence spending in the years 2001 and 2002.[HL1965]
§ Baroness Symons of Vernham DeanThe information available from our records dates back only to 1950 and is available for financial, rather than calendar, years. The last available year is 1998–99; estimates are given for financial years 1999–2000, 2000–01 and 2001–02.
The figures are:
Financial Year Percentage 1951–52 7.7 1956–57 7.3 1961–62 6.2 1966–67 5.6 1971–72 4.8 1976–77 4.8 1981–82 5.0 1986–87 4.7 1991–92 4.2 1996–97 2.9 1998–99 2.6 1999–00 2.6 2000–01 2.5 2001–02 2.4