Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many applications for export licences for objects of cultural interest were (a) received and (b) granted in each month of the past 5 years; and what was the total value of these items.

The Export Licensing Unit, run by Arts Council England, received a total number of 27,501 applications for export licenses for objects of cultural interest from May 2020-April 2025, a monthly average of 466. The total number of granted applications was 25,142.

A monthly breakdown is also available, see attached.

The total value of the items for which licenses were issued was £44,987,629,884.