Defence, security and foreign aid: your questions answered
UK defence spending, the size of the armed forces, the foreign aid budget, Ukraine support, arms export licences and terrorism statistics.
How big are the UK armed forces?
The MOD's Quarterly Service Personnel Statistics are the official count. The release for 1 July 2026 reported a total UK Armed Forces strength of 182,980, of which 127,060 were full-time trained regulars, plus 28,880 trained reservists in the Future Reserves 2020 group.
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How much is the UK foreign aid budget?
The FCDO's Statistics on International Development are the official figures. The provisional release for 2025, published 9 April 2026, put UK Official Development Assistance (ODA) at £13,036 million, or 0.43% of gross national income (GNI), down from 0.50% in 2024.
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Where does UK foreign aid go?
The final annual release of Statistics on International Development breaks UK aid down by recipient country, region, sector (such as health or humanitarian aid) and spending department. Its data tables list bilateral aid for each country.
For individual projects, the FCDO's Development Tracker shows budgets, spending and documents for each programme by country. International comparisons are in the OECD's Development Assistance Committee data.
Not all aid goes to a named country. A large share goes to multilateral bodies such as the World Bank or UN, and in-donor refugee costs are spent in the UK. A claim that the UK "gives" a country a sum may refer to a multi-year commitment, not one year's spending.
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How much does the UK spend on defence?
The Ministry of Defence publishes its spending each year in MOD Departmental Resources. The 2025 edition reported defence spending of £60.2 billion in 2024/25 (resource plus capital budgets, minus depreciation), a real-terms rise of 7.7% on 2023/24.
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How much aid has the UK given to Ukraine?
The Government's UK support to Ukraine factsheet, last updated in July 2026, says the UK has committed £25 billion in total: £16 billion in military support (including a £2.26 billion loan contribution), up to £5.6 billion in non-military support, and a £3.5 billion export finance cover limit.
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How much does Trident and the UK nuclear deterrent cost?
The MOD reports to Parliament each year on the nuclear programme. Its Defence Nuclear Enterprise 2026 annual update says the Dreadnought submarine programme, which replaces the Vanguard boats that carry Trident, is estimated at £41 billion (£31 billion plus £10 billion contingency), with £23.2 billion spent by March 2026.
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What percentage of GDP does the UK spend on defence?
The standard source for defence spending as a share of GDP is NATO's annual defence expenditure tables, which use one definition for all members so countries can be compared. They are published in PDF and Excel each year.
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How many Prevent referrals are there each year?
The Home Office's Prevent programme statistics cover England and Wales. The release for the year ending September 2025 reported 10,293 referrals about 9,957 individuals, a 39% rise in referrals and the highest annual number since the series began in April 2015.
Of those referrals, 2,159 individuals (21%) were discussed at a Channel panel and 1,810 (18%) were adopted as a Channel case for support. The tables break referrals down by age, the sector that referred them (such as education or police) and the type of concern.
A referral is not an accusation or arrest, and most do not lead to Channel support. The Home Office changed how it counts adopted Channel cases from April 2024 and applied the new method to earlier years, so older published figures may differ.
Related: How many terrorism arrests are there in the UK? · Where can I find official crime statistics?
How do I check UK arms export licences?
The Export Control Joint Unit publishes strategic export controls licensing statistics every quarter, with country-level data back to 2008. They show licences issued, refused and revoked by destination, the type of goods, and the value stated on standard individual licences.
A searchable licensing database lets you filter by destination or control list entry. The annual UK Strategic Export Controls report to Parliament adds refusal reasons and processing times, and the Government has published separate management information on licences for Israel.
A licence is permission to export, not a record of a sale. Many licences are never used in full, and open licences have no stated value, so licence values cannot be read as the value of arms actually exported.
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How many armed forces veterans are there in the UK?
The best count comes from the census. The ONS reported that 1,853,112 people in England and Wales said in Census 2021 that they had previously served in the UK armed forces, 3.8% of residents aged 16 and over.
A combined Great Britain figure adds Scotland's Census 2022, which asked the same question for the first time. Northern Ireland's census did not ask it, so there is no full UK census count.
A veteran here means anyone who has served at least one day in the regular or reserve forces. Older estimates from the Annual Population Survey used a different method and are not directly comparable with the census.
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How many terrorism arrests are there in the UK?
The Home Office publishes arrests in Great Britain in Operation of police powers under the Terrorism Act 2000. The release to June 2026 reported 3,867 terrorism-related arrests in the year ending June 2026, compared with 234 a year earlier.
Of those, 3,630 (94%) were linked to supporting Palestine Action after it was proscribed on 5 July 2025; the other 237 were close to the previous ten-year median of 238. The tables also cover charges, convictions, people in custody and stop and search, and from this release they split Palestine Action and other arrests.
An arrest is not a charge: many cases are still open when figures are published, so charge rates rise over time. The release is moving from quarterly to six-monthly.
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These answers say where official figures are published and how they are defined. They give no verdict on any claim. To report an error, send a correction request.