Chapter 1 - Finance
                         
Table 1.13 Estimated Imports & Exports of Defence Equipment (Goods)
This table presents data on the value of defence equipment imports and exports. This information is broken down by commodity grouping and broad geographic region. Data are based on HM Revenue & Customs information relating to defence equipment reported to UK Customs. Defence equipment is identified by an agreed set of tariff codes intended to capture movements of military equipment. Over the period covered by the table, changes have been made to the list of 'identified' defence equipment by, for example, the removal of two HM Customs codes for aerospace from 1997. Further details are given in Defence Statistics Bulletin No.4 and in the National Statistics Quality Review on Trade Statistics. For progress relating to improvements to the quality of defence trade statistics, please refer to the notes at the start of this section on Trade. These estimates have been subject to a variety of revisons and methodological updates in recent years including changes to the internationally agreed tariff codes used for recording goods exports. These changes are described in DASA Defence Statistics Bulletin No.8.

The data in this table are outside the scope of National Statistics because they do not meet all of the high professional quality assurance standards set out in the National Statistics Code of Practice.

Current Prices (£ million)
1997   2001 2002   2003 2004 2005   2006 2007
Identified Imports
 1 288   1 804 1 645 II 712 700 652 II 1 098 734
Split by Commodity:
                      
 
Armoured Fighting Vehicles and Parts
 42   21 22 II 19 40 52 II 87 86
 
Military Aircraft and Parts
 1 038   1 609 1 292 II 440 403 280 II 677 372
 
Warships
 1   - - II - 2 - II - -
 
Guns, Small Arms and Parts
 46   22 52 II 55 51 62 II 96 81
 
Guided Weapons, Missiles and Parts
 113   138 217 II 163 160 231 II 188 127
 
Ammunition
 9   1 9 II 17 20 12 II 15 30
 
Optical Equipment and Training Simulators
 38   13 53 II 19 24 15 II 34 39
                         
Split by Origin:
                      
 
NATO Countries and Other Europe
 1 087   1 718 1 371 II 566 576 581 II 904 638
 
Asia and Far East
 93   1 104 II 53 42 35 II 120 51
 
Latin America and Caribbean
 6   2 20 II 2 4 1 II 2 7
 
Middle East and North Africa
 93   80 136 ll 84 70 28 ll 59 24
 
Other Africa
 9   3 15 II 7 7 7 II 13 14
                         
Identified Exports1
 3 359   1 533 942   992 1 391 1 391 II 1 358 2 070
Split by Commodity:
                      
 
Armoured Fighting Vehicles and Parts
 201   54 77   63 62 60 II 76 76
 
Military Aircraft and Parts
 2 296   1 207 584   734 957 740 II 866 899
 
Warships2
 256   1 -   - 58 58 II - 769
 
Guns, Small Arms and Parts
 95   75 53   48 72 199 II 77 87
 
Guided Weapons, Missiles and Parts
 427   175 193   121 219 291 II 250 171
 
Ammunition
 20   9 19   5 5 6 II 3 4
 
Optical Equipment and Training Simulators
 64   12 16   21 18 36 II 86 64
                         
Split by Destination:
                      
 
NATO Countries and Other Europe
 1 034   969 609   467 801 832 II 914 764
 
Asia and Far East
 204   196 136   273 235 317 ll 254 1 054
 
Latin America and Caribbean
 132   19 5   6 15 5 II 6 12
 
Middle East and North Africa
 1 985   320 185   221 250 207 II 172 196
 
Other Africa
 3   28 8   26 90 29 II 12 44
Source: HM Revenue & Customs
1. Changes to the internationally agreed tariff codes used for recording goods exports (see Annex C of the Annual Report on Strategic Export Controls) had originally contributed to an apparent increase in the deliveries figures from 2005 to 2006. The further amalgamation of military and civil codes which has resulted in a discontinuity in the code set used to compile these data has been investigated. It was not clear how far the increase reported reflected a true increase in the value of military goods exported as opposed to the inclusion of civil goods previously excluded. Further investigation of the HMRC dataset revealed a large element of this reported increase in 2006 (recorded against one of the dual use codes) as being probably civil in nature. The 2006 figure was therefore revised prior to publication in UKDS 2007.
2. The large increase in the value of identified exports in the Warships category in 2007 is due to the overseas delivery of three Offshore Patrol Vessels.