§ Mr. Knoxasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the present total of the National Debt; and, from information available from international sources, how this compares on a per capita basis with the equivalent figures for the member countries of the European Economic Community.
§ Mr. Nott:£35,853 million (provisional) at 31st March, 1972, equivalent to some £640 per head. This total is in nominal terms and includes substantial United Kingdom official holdings. The table 239W below gives the sterling equivalents per head for the EEC countries at the end of March, 1971 (calculated at the exchange parities at that date).
National debt per head £ Belgium 540 France 150 Germany 150 Italy 130 Netherlands 300 Great caution is needed in interpreting these figures as their comparability is affected by large differences in the structure and size of the public sectors in the various countries. The definition of debt for the EEC countries is as given in EEC "General Statistics ".