§ Mr. Ridsdaleasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the level of Government expenditure as a proportion of the gross national product for the United Kingdom, the United States of America, West Germany and Japan for each of the last 10 years, from information available to him from international sources.
§ Mr. DiamondThe following information is taken from the returns made to the O.E.C.D. and as far as possible comparable definitions have been used. However, such international comparisons cannot be wholly satisfactory because they are affected by differences in institutional arrangements.
CURRENT EXPENDITURE AND CAPITAL FORMATION OF GENERAL GOVERNMENT* AS A PERCENTAGE OF GROSS NATIONAL PRODUCT AT FACTOR COST United Kingdom United States of America† West Germany Japan § 1958 … 33.6 31.7 37.8‡ 22.2 1959 … 34.1 30.0 38 .0‡ 21.2 1960 … 34.3 30.0 36.5 20.3 1961 … 35.4 31.8 37.4 19.9 1962 … 36.2 31.7 39.1 21.2 1963 … 36.2 31.4 40.3 22.2 1964 … 35.8 30.8 39.7 21.9 1965 … 36.8 30.2 40.3 23.2 1966 … 37.8 31.2 40.8 23.4 1967 … 40.3 33.7 43.6 n.a. * Including Central Government, States, Lander and Local Authorities, but excluding government enterprises. † Including expenditure on machinery and equipment and stocks by government enterprises. Including capital transfers abroad and net of the current surplus of government enterprises. ‡ Excluding Saar and West Berlin. § Excluding capital formation in stocks. Figures of fixed capital formation which are included relate to fiscal years beginning on 1st April of the calendar year and include capital expenditure on dwellings, which is normally classified as expenditure by government enterprises in O.E.C.D. returns.