The UK made a net contribution to the European Union of about £199m a week last year, according to new official figures.

The amount was the second-highest in the past decade and an increase of £13m on the previous year.

The figures were released more than a month after the UK voted to leave the European Union, with one of the key issues being the cost of membership.

A bus used by the Leave campaign had a slogan on it saying "We send the EU £350m a week", but the Remain side said the figure was misleading because it did not take into account the money the UK received in return - in the form of rebates and payments to the public sector.

The figures, from the UK's current account published by the Office for National Statistics, say that, before the application of the rebate, the UK's gross contribution was £19.6bn a year - about £376m a week.


Image: The Vote Leave campaign bus had the 'misleading' figure painted on it

But the rebate was £4.9bn, leaving a yearly contribution for the UK of £14.7bn.

Taking into account the EU's payments to the UK public sector brings the final figure down further to £10.4bn a year - or about £199m a week.

The figure for 2014 was roughly £186m a week.

During the campaign, the UK Statistics Authority said the Treasury deducts the value of the rebate before paying the UK's contributions to the bloc.

The most expensive year for the UK's EU membership in the past decade was in 2013, when it paid £11.3bn, or about £217m a week.

But these amounts do not take into account EU grants to the private sector, such as research organisations and universities.