The UK secured defence export orders worth £13.2 billion in 2024, an increase of around 10.4% compared with the £11.9 billion recorded in 2023, according to newly published official statistics from the Ministry of Defence.
The figures come from the latest UK Defence Export Statistics release, published by the MOD as part of its Finance and Economics Statistical Bulletin series. The report tracks trends in UK defence export orders and analyses demand by destination region and by sector across the global market.
The publication marks the first time the statistics have been released under MOD responsibility. Previously the report was produced by the Department for Business and Trade, but a machinery of government change in July 2025 transferred responsibility for defence exports promotion to the Ministry of Defence. As a result, the UK Defence and Security Exports team moved into the department and will oversee the publication going forward. However, because the 2024 report was already well advanced at the time of the change, the analysis and drafting were completed by the Department for Business and Trade.
The report shows that UK defence exports have remained relatively stable over recent years when averaged over time. Over the five-year period from 2020 to 2024, annual UK defence export orders averaged £9.3 billion. A five-year moving average included in the report suggests overall export levels have remained broadly steady since 2018 at around £9 billion per year, although there were below-average exports during 2020 and 2021, likely reflecting the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the report, export activity has increased again in recent years as global defence spending rises following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The increase recorded in 2024 was primarily driven by stronger demand from European countries. Europe overtook the Middle East as the largest market for UK defence exports in 2024. The report attributes this shift largely to major defence deals with Poland, which significantly boosted export orders to the region. Over the longer term, the five-year average value of UK defence exports to Europe has grown substantially, rising from around £0.7 billion in 2017 to £3.6 billion in 2024.
In contrast, exports to the Middle East have declined slightly from the peak levels seen earlier in the period. The report notes that this reflects the completion of major contracts signed in 2018, including orders for Typhoon aircraft and Brimstone missiles for Qatar, which had temporarily pushed export values higher.
Across all regions, Europe accounted for the largest share of UK defence exports between 2020 and 2024, representing 38.4% of total export orders over the five-year period.
The report also highlights the dominance of the aerospace sector in UK defence exports. Aerospace products accounted for the largest share of export orders throughout the period covered by the report, from 2013 to 2024. Between 2020 and 2024, aerospace exports made up around 53% of the total value of UK defence export orders. Other exports included land and maritime equipment as well as contracts that could not be clearly attributed to a single sector. The report notes that some agreements involve multiple systems or services and are therefore categorised as mixed or unknown.
Overall, the latest figures suggest continued strong international demand for British defence products and services, with aerospace remaining the dominant export sector and Europe emerging as the largest regional market.
Will get a big boost in 2026, both domestic orders and from Middle East.
Starmer needs to rearm with alacrity but instead just piffle and waffle from this useless lawyer.
I think you have a higher chance of flying by flapping your arms really fast
Besides he is too busy offering £40000 to illegals to convince them to go home
I’m not sure we will see a big boost the Middle Eastern nations buy with an expectation they are creating a strategic alliance.. we have shown ourselves to be a weak partner… it’s going to be a massive boost to US arms sales.. not UK.
It’s a misstep and a bad one. Not yet irrecoverable.
As none of these Countries wanted the US to actually start a war, it started through opportunity not an actual plan (ie large meeting of top Iranian leaders) and our forces there have helped defend them as best we can (we know the limitations) I don’t agree with your take. France will keep doing very well there and in which way did it defend them better than us. A lot depends on how this all plays out and potential American blackmail now that the6 have destabilised the region, but if these states suffer on going blow back from and increasingly unstable Iran it’s going to be a tough relationship with the US for them and their economies could suffer enormously so not easy to estimate how that fear/anger/blackmail mix will effect matters. Don’t think there will be great joy having to do US bidding and having to please them just to stay safe and I’m sure as now they will want to widen their defensive posture rather than putting eggs in a single basket, especially with this US regime, hardly sympathetic to Arabs.
True, and I have no doubt the gulf states are utterly furious with the US.. it’s going to make a massive hit on their economy’s and the risk of civil strife in places like Jordan is not to be ignored. And they are already talking in code about cutting back on that 100million+ investment plan in the USA…but unfortunately the basics matter and essentially the gulf states are burning their profoundly expensive stores of THAAD and patriots.. so a huge part of their budget will be on rebuilding their air defence stocks and that is all going to the US MIC because they are not buying Israeli missiles and Europe simply cannot supply them..
One interesting thing is the US are not being forthcoming with its own base stocks of THAAD and Patriot..with one US comment apparently being what do they expect there have been several years production shot off in 4 days….
So I think the very first thing the gulf states are going to splash cash on will be massive supplies of patriot and THAAD missiles.
There may be an opportunity around anti drone systems and lower end missiles but the bulk of the money they are probably going to spending will be on.. those high end US anti ballistic missile systems and lot of them….
But we have to remember places like Qatari have also been muttering about lacklustre support from its ally the UK… it sort of expected a bit more… we do have an opportunity and sending another 4 typhoons is a good start… but really we should be leaping at the chance to show what great allies we are.. and sending a Sky Sabre air defence systems etc..
The big problem with this is Trump seems to have no end game and his mitigation seems to be Russian oil…
Sadly I reckon this is going to end in a years long cluster fuck that weakens the west… with China looking like the sensible guys on the block as they count how many patriots, THAADs and other munitions have been burned away as well as US overextension..
I did once write that a key part of any Chinese pacific war strategy would be to try and get Russia involved to pin European resources and then use Iran to scrap the western economic system by closing down Middle Eastern sealanes.. this would do two things.. stopping the European navies and airforces from deploying into the Pacific and forcing a chunk of the USN into the western Indian Ocean.. I sort of considered these core win conditions for China in a Sino US Pacific war.. and Trump has actually done it for them Xi must be pissing himself.. I suspect Xi may be modifying his timelines and China is moving up its plans to take Taiwan because…
1) Russia is distracting Europe and Trump is empowering Russia to be an even greater threat..so essentially Europe is now out of the game
2) the US has show itself to be a really bad ally and has hacked off both South Korea and Japan to the extent about 70% of the Japanese population no longer trust the to have its back in a war..
3) Trump has attacked Iran and has sent the middleware into a bomb fire and if it wants to keep hegemony there it’s now nailed down 2 carriers for the duration…as well as pissing off all it’s Middle Eastern allies and given Europe another kicking under the table…
4) the Taiwanese parliament is messy with essentially no control between the separatist and pro China parties..
So all in all it may be that who sells what to the Middle East is a bit of a none point as next year may be the kick off to Chinas century… because I think China sees trump as a president they can play and outwit as well as a president who has overextended US power, squandered its allies ans already helped trigger the win conditions China needed… we shall see.
Excellent post Jonathan.
UK defence exports… without wishing to sound however, shouldn’t that read ‘arms manufacturers in the UK making huge gold plated profits’, or something along those lines, as it is NOT the UK making that money, nor capitalising from those export sales?
It’s a pity we aren’t able to “export” a warship to Cyprus to protect our bases and the people of the island. A report today from there is a suggestion that Cyprus is re-considering the current arrangment and that the bases may be closed. Well done Starmer. He is without doubt the most feeble and feckless prime minister we have ever had.
In a free democratic system, you get he politicians that the majority of people want. Currently, that means a high level of universal benefits (illegals get them as well), then defence gets what’s left over.