More important role in the UK

This sector of industry thus accounts for 6. 7%of the local manufactur-
ing sector, compared to only 2. 1%in Germany. This is mainly due
to the strong military focus of the sector in the UK, particularly
in the areas of marine technology and military aircraft building.

The British company BAE Systems is after all one of the three
largest defence companies in the world. The UK also spends sig-
nificantly more on defence systems than Germany, and this ex-
penditure largely benefits local industry. The strong military sector
also explains the divergent trend in the production curves of the
two countries. The shipbuilding sector is responsible for this.

While German shipyards were affected by the drastic decline in
global demand for commercial shipbuilding between 2008 and
2011, British shipyards remained virtually unscathed because
commercial shipbuilding had already ceased to play a significant
role by this stage, and their main focus was on orders for the
navy.