Defence and Security Exports: 2017 Stats

3 Oct 2018 10:48 AM

The Department for International Trade Defence and Security Organisation has published the UK’s defence and security export statistics for 2017.

This is the fifth year that DIT DSO’s defence and security export statistics have been designated as ‘Official Statistics’ in accordance with the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007.

All in all, in 2017, UK industry achieved £9Bn defence exports and £4.8Bn security exports. Of the security exports, cyber security exports were worth £1.8Bn in 2017 (representing 38% of total UK security exports). That is up from £1.5Bn in 2016 (34%).

On a rolling 10 year basis (2008-2017 period), the UK remains the second largest defence exporter in the world, with a 12% global market share in 2017. The global defence export market in 2017 is estimated to be valued at close to $98Bn, the biggest it has been in the past decade. The largest defence export markets were the Middle East, North America, and Europe. The UK won air contracts linked with F-35 to the US, Rolls Royce engines for Multi Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) to Germany and future components to Turkey.

In security exports, the UK moved up the global rankings in 2017 to 4th place (previously 5th). The largest markets for security exports were Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East. Cyber security capabilities continue to be a major part of the security sector exports, with CNI and policing and counter-terrorism being the next most significant elements. Notable UK successes include SERCO (Australia) and Digital Barriers (USA).

You can find further details on the DSO export stats here. techUK looks forward to continuing working with DSO to ensure that the UK offer is the best it can be.