2 min read - 9 Sep, 2025
Upping defence spend could deliver 50,000 new jobs by 2035
Data from trade association ADS estimates that 50,000 additional jobs could be provided by 2035 from an increase in defence spending to 3% of GDP. Employment in the sector, which already stands at over 180,000, is known to be high quality, with 80% of jobs found outside of the Southeast at above-average salaries.
ADS analysis further suggests that if spending reaches 3.5% of GDP, as current commitments indicate, this will generate a total of 85,000 direct jobs in the defence sector.
Notably, the new data – modelled on the assurances to spend 3% of GDP on defence by 2035 – also highlights a more than 50% increase in Gross Value Added (GVA) to the UK economy from the sector. GVA could reach £23.5bn by 2035 under the new outlines, up 50% on the £15bn added by the defence industry to the economy in 2024.
Defence industry body ADS estimates that an increase in defence spending to 3% of GDP could deliver 50,000 new jobs by 2035 / Picture: Getty/iStock
As the long-awaited Defence Industrial Strategy launches, Kevin Craven, CEO of ADS, which represents over 1600 businesses in aerospace, defence, security and space, said: “The primary purpose of defence and security is to protect and deter – but in the process, the value we provide to the economy is increasingly critical to innovation and prosperity. With a deteriorating security environment, the government’s acknowledgement of the need to immediately bolster our defence is hugely welcome.
“An increase in spending of this magnitude delivers on the long-term demand signal that helps the defence sector to do what we do best: deliver capabilities that are needed to uphold our security, in a way that delivers value for money to the citizens we are here to protect.
“That said, while the cost of living rises and societal pressures increase, it’s right that we are raising awareness of the good that we, as a sector, provide for the UK tangibly for citizens. Our sector drives social mobility and prosperity through the high proportion of jobs we offer people from all walks of life, through the international opportunities and high-tech development partnerships we build, and through the wide range of improvements to civilian life and everyday technology that originate in our sector.”
