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How we spend our budget
To deliver a safer, more prosperous UK, the FCO works in a complex and sometimes dangerous world. We do so with one of the smallest budgets in Whitehall.
In 2008/09, FCO expenditure was £2.1 billion, or around 0.5% of the Government’s total spending. Of this, over 20% goes to our key partners, the BBC World Service (£241m) and the British Council (£193m).
Over £167m of our budget went to UK Trade and Investment (UKTI), whose work we co-fund along with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. UKTI promotes British business overseas, thereby generating far more for the British economy than it spends.
£143 million of our budget last year went in grants and subscriptions to international organisations such as the UN, NATO and the Council of Europe, which do work in support of a wide range of UK Government objectives. A significant slice of our expenditure – £454 million - goes on peace-keeping and conflict prevention activities.
A key objective for the FCO is to provide a network of overseas posts which act as a global platform serving the whole of British Government, in addition to delivering our own objectives and our public services.
We also fund scholarships for overseas students and projects to support our key objectives, including counter-terrorism and counter-narcotics work. Our total expenditure also takes account of revenues from consular and visa services (over £300m in 2008/9) and other parts of government who use the FCO network.
We continue to pioneer new and more efficient ways of working to ensure value for money for the UK taxpayer and to ensure we can meet increasing demands within tightening budgets.
Public diplomacy
Find out how the FCO works with the public overseas to achieve its goals.
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See Also
Useful Links
Departmental report 2008/2009
