Chapter 1 - Finance
                           
Table 1.15 Ministry of Defence Estimated Balance of Payments for Trade in Services
Balance of Payments is a measure of the UK's trading account with the rest of the world. Trade in Services are provisions of services (e.g. training, cleaning services, IT support etc) between UK residents and non-residents, and transactions in goods which are not freighted out of the country in which they take place; these transactions are not recorded in the official 'Trade in Goods' statistics. A detailed discussion of these concepts can by found in the latest edition of The Pink Book published by the Office for National Statistics. More details are available in Defence Statistics Bulletin No.4 or in the National Statistics Quality Review report on Balance of Payments: Trade in Services.

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)
  1995 1997   2001 2002   2003 1 2004 2005 2006 2007
Net Balance -1 691 -1 394   -1 627 -1 543 ll -2 021   -1 762 -1 723 -1 979 -2 338
                         
Total Debits 2 057 1 600   1 836 1 764   2 411   2 200 2 158 2 471 2 763
Expenditure2                        
  Germany 1 038 848   1 035 799   974   1 190 1 237 1 244 1 501
  Other Identified NATO Countries 684 406   492 731   1 139   801 573 755 881
  Mediterranean 135 158   148 156   173   168 182 226 175
  Far East 6 21   - -   -   - - - -
  Other Areas 194 167   160 78   125   41 166 245 206
                           
Total Credits 366 206   209 221   390   438 435 492 425
Receipts3                        
  Receipts from US Forces in UK 136 110   161 154   142   126 128 126 116
  Other Receipts4 230 96   48 67 || 248   312 307 366 309
Source: DASA (Economic Statistics)
1. The increase in 'Total Debits' in 2003 was largely attributable to increased spending on services as a result of military activity in Iraq.
2. Based on drawings of foreign exchange.
3. A mix of export sales and receipts from other Government and International Organisations for services provided overseas and to overseas forces based in the UK.
4. The increase in 'Other Receipts' from 2003 is due to the improvement in the methodology used to identify receipts data.