The Spending Review 2010, announced on 20 October 2010, set the Budget from 2011-12 out to 2014-15 for all Government Departments, including Defence. Over these years, the Defence budget will fall by around 8% in real terms. Despite these cuts, we expect to continue to have the fourth largest military budget in the world and to meet our commitment to NATO of spending at least 2% of GDP on Defence.
The Defence budget for the period to 2014/15 will be:
| £million nominal |
Baseline 2010-11 |
2011-12 |
2012-13 |
2013-14 |
2014-15 |
| Resource Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL)1 |
24,320 |
24,890 |
25,225 |
24,916 |
24,705 |
| Capital DEL |
8,613 |
8,861 |
9,136 |
9,191 |
8,749 |
| Total DEL1 |
32,933 |
33,751 |
34,361 |
34,107 |
33,454 |
1 Excludes depreciation
The Strategic Defence and Security Review has identified a raft of measures targeted at the Department’s Non-Front Line costs. These include a number of new and continuing efficiency programmes, which are expected to deliver in excess of £1Bn annual savings by 2014-15. Without these savings Defence would have to make further difficult cuts to the front line.
Operations
The additional net costs incurred on operations (for example in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya) are not paid for from the Defence Budget, but rather by the Special Government Reserve. Between 2001-02 and 2009-10, the Reserve has provided an additional £18Bn on top of the Defence Budget to cover operational costs.
This includes fthat has been approved for Urgent Operational Requirements. This is a process designed to provide commanders on the ground with the equipment they need quickly.
International ComparisonsAccording to the latest figures (2010), the UK is the fourth highest spender (in cash terms) on Defence in the world (behind the United States, China and France. The UK is one of only five NATO members who meet the NATO guideline of spending 2% of GDP on Defence.
Further information on international comparisons can be found in the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SPIRI) Yearbook in the related links section of this page.
Comparisons across Government DepartmentsDetails on defence expenditure in relation to government expenditure on other functions can be found in the Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses in the related links section of this page.