This morning the statistics for defence and security exports for 2013 were released on the GOV.UK website. This is the first year these have been designated ‘Official Statistics’ .

UK defence and security exports in 2013 totalled £13 billion, comprising defence exports of £9.8 billion and security exports of £3.2 billion. The combined figure represents a 13% increase on the previous year. Defence exports increased by 11% and security exports by 18%.

Lord Livingston, Minister of State for Trade and Investment, said:

This is a great performance in very tough market conditions, and underlines the strength and resilience of these industries.