How much is the Government spending on defence compared to other priorities?

Following John Healey’s resignation over the issue earlier this month, Sir Keir Starmer has come up with an extra £1bn to fund Britain’s defence.

The Defense investment plan (Dip), originally planned for last year, has been postponed due to fierce wrangling within the government over the amount of money needed to fund the military.

The Ministry of Defense (MoD) has announced that under new defense secretary Dan Jarvis, Dip will now focus on increasing the UK’s use of drones and autonomous weapons, funded by a £5bn investment.

Mr Jarvis is thought to have made better progress in negotiations with the Treasury over funding and the plan will be published on Tuesday, delivering a full deal of £14.5bn compared to the £13.5bn offered to Mr Healey, but falling short of the £28bn authorities were previously said to need.

Mr Healey argued Dip did not provide sufficient funding for the UK to transform its armed forces and meet future threats, plunging Sir Keir’s government into further disarray.

He also warned that the plan would likely fail to meet Britain’s commitments to the NATO alliance, which tasks all member states with increasing core defense spending to 3.5 per cent of national economic output by 2035.

The government has pledged to spend 3.5 per cent of GDP on defense by 2035, but Mr Healey noted that spending is forecast to reach only 2.6 per cent next year, rising marginally to 2.68 per cent in 2030.

The Treasury is understood to have not set out a timetable for achieving the 3 per cent spending target in its previous proposal and is reportedly trying to force the Ministry of Defense to delay that milestone to the 2034/35 financial year.

How much does the government spend in total?

The Institute for Fiscal Studies said the Government will spend around £1.2 trillion on behalf of taxpayers in 2024-25.

This represents 39.9 per cent of national income, spread across a range of policy areas and services across the UK’s regions and nations.

It was found that approximately 80 per cent of total expenditure was attributed to a specific region of the UK, while 18 per cent was classified as benefiting the UK as a whole.

This category includes costs related to defense and managing the national debt.

How much does the government spend on defense?

Spending on the military, equipment and operations, including elements such as the armed forces and intelligence services, is £64bn in 2024-25.

This figure represents 5.5 per cent of overall Government expenditure and 2.2 per cent of GDP; These rates are the highest since 2011-12 on both indicators.

The £59 billion spent in 2023-24 is the first annual total decline in defense spending since 2016-17, while defense spending as a percentage of GDP was at historic lows between 2016-17 and 2019-20.

What is the biggest spending area?

Expenditure classified as “social protection” but commonly referred to as social assistance is the Government’s largest expenditure.

33 percent of Government spending in 2024-2015 was on benefits, pensions and social services; This amounted to £386 billion, or 13 per cent of GDP.

The largest share of general welfare spending was allocated to pensions and old-age benefits (40%), followed by universal credit and other benefits (20%).

How much does the government spend on health?

Healthcare spending is also a big focus; £242bn has been spent in 2024-25, and welfare levels have also shown a generally consistent upward trend for decades.

The latter expenditure represented 21 per cent of total expenditure, 8 per cent of GDP and £3,497 per person.

How do education expenses compare?

Education represented the third largest annual spend in a service area in 2024-25, accounting for 10.5 per cent of the £123bn total spend.

This represents an increase of around £30bn since 2010-11. However, education expenditure for 2024-25 is 4 percent of GDP, while 15 years ago this rate was 5.6 percent.

Education funding as a percentage of overall expenditure has fallen significantly since 2010-11, when it was 14 percent. It currently accounts for 10.5 percent.

About 80 percent of the budget is currently spent on primary and secondary education.

What about policing and crime prevention spending?

Public safety is another highly politically charged policy area, involving public concerns about security, police numbers and access.

Total spending in this area has increased steadily since 2016-17, with funding rising from £30bn in 2016 to £52bn last year.

But in 2010-11 the then government was spending almost the same percentage of GDP in this area as the current government.

The 2024-25 level represents approximately 5 per cent of total Government expenditure and 2 per cent of GDP.

Police services account for half of the total annual expenditure, followed by courts (18 percent) and prisons (13 percent).

What’s happening in other areas of spending?

Transport spending currently accounts for 4 per cent of the Government’s annual expenditure, followed by central government services (2 per cent) and housing, communities and local government (2 per cent).

What else does the state allocate money for?

The government allocates 1 percent of its annual expenditures to the management of public sector debt interest.

The cost of this has increased since 2020, rising from 4 percent of total expenses to 11 percent last year.

The government spent £125bn on debt costs in 2025; This means that spending in the region accounts for around two-thirds of all annual Government spending when combined with health and benefits.