UK made weekly net payment of around £156m to EU in 2016/17

UK made weekly net payment of around £156m to EU in 2016/17 Figures suggest the UK's weekly payment was far below the controversial £350m figure touted during Brexit campaigning.

Image: The amount the UK pays to Brussels was one of the key issues of the referendum

The UK made a net payment of roughly £156m a week to the European Union in 2016/17, the lowest level for five years.

Treasury figures suggest the total amount for the 12 months to March 2017 was £8.1bn.

It is the first time a figure has been given for the period that included the EU referendum in June 2016.

The exact amount the UK pays was one of the key issues of the referendum campaign.

Vote Leave, the official Brexit campaign, was criticised for printing a slogan on the side of its battle bus that said: "We send the EU £350m a week."


Backers of the Remain campaign said this was misleading because it did not take into account the money the UK gets from the EU in its rebate, as well as payments made to the public sector.

The estimate of £8.1bn for 2016/17 is the lowest since 2011/12 and down more than a quarter on the figure for 2015/16 when adjusted for inflation.

Before the application of the rebate, the UK's gross contribution to the EU budget in 2016/17 was £16.9bn, or around £325m a week.

But, as was pointed out by the UK Statistics Authority during the referendum campaign, the Treasury pays the UK's contributions to Brussels after taking away the value of the rebate.

2016: Are we really paying £350m to the EU?

The rebate in 2016/17 was £4.8bn, which when taken from the gross contribution gives a figure of £12.2bn.

Once the EU's payments to the UK public sector are subtracted, this gives the final figure of £8.1bn, or around £156m a week.

The precise amount Britain pays the EU is difficult to calculate.

This is because EU payments that are made directly to the private sector, such as universities and research organisations, are not included in the figures from the Treasury.

Liberal Democrat Brexit spokesman Tom Brake said: "The Leave campaign promised £350m extra a week for the NHS.

"Not only have the Brexiteers failed to stump up this extra cash, but it turns out the UK's contribution to the EU was less than half what they claimed.

"This contribution pales in comparison to the economic benefits we get from being part of the single market and customs union."

Labour MP Chuka Umunna, a leading supporter of the Open Britain campaign for close ties with the EU, said: "Those people who voted to quit the EU because they thought leaving the EU would deliver a cash boost for the NHS are going to be left disappointed.

"Brexit will mean less, not more, money for our public services."