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.
The same bulletin breaks spending down into equipment, personnel, research and development and other categories, and compares it with other departments. The full accounts are in the MOD annual report and accounts.
Several measures exist and give different totals: the MOD budget, the net cash requirement, and the NATO definition, which also counts items such as some intelligence spending and war pensions. When a claim says the UK spends a given amount, check which of these it means and whether it is in cash or real terms. See our guide to defence and aid statistics.
When is the next figure out?
MOD, FCDO and Home Office statistics are pre-announced on the GOV.UK research and statistics calendar and published at 9:30am. Personnel statistics come out quarterly; provisional aid figures in April and final ones in the autumn; NATO's tables usually appear around its summer summit. The terrorism powers release is moving to a six-monthly cycle.
Every official release due in the next two weeks is on the release calendar.
Where the figures come from
- Defence, foreign aid and counter-terrorism statistics (MOD, FCDO, NATO, OECD, Home Office)Where to find official UK defence spending, armed forces numbers, NATO comparisons, foreign aid (ODA), arms export licences and terrorism statistics.
Related questions
- What percentage of GDP does the UK spend on defence?
- How big are the UK armed forces?
- How is UK tax revenue spent?
This answer says where the official figures are published and how they are defined. It gives no verdict on any claim. To report an error, send a correction request. More questions about defence, security and foreign aid: all Defence, security and foreign aid questions.