§ Mr. Meacherasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what has been the proportion of profits in national income, or 73W similar national economic aggregate, in each of the last 10 years in Great Britain, the other EEC countries, the USA and other Western European countries for which the information may be available.
§ Mr. NottI regret that information on profits is not available from international sources. However, it is possible to derive figures for the national accounting concept of operating surplus for all but the latest years and these are presented below as a
OPERATING SURPLUS AS A PERCENTAGE OF NATIONAL INCOME 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 United Kingdom … 24.3 23.6 24.5 24.6 24.6 22.9 23.7 23.2 22.1 20.5 20.2 Belgium … 41.8 40.5 39.0 38.9 38.7 37.2 37.1 37.6 38.0 37.1 34.8 Denmark … 40.3 39.3 38.7 39.3 37.1 35.4 34.9 33.4 33.6 n.a. n.a. France … 40.3 39.5 38.3 37.8 37.5 37.9 38.1 37.7 38.0 38.0 n.a. Germany … 38.1 36.3 35.9 36.1 35.7 35.0 34.8 36.6 35.2 33.7 31.6 Irish Republic … 40.4 39.1 38.3 37.1 36.4 34.1 34.9 35.1 34.0 n.a. n.a. Italy … 47.6 45.9 42.7 41.4 42.2 42.9 42.8 42.6 42.7 40.3 n.a. Luxembourg … 41.7 38.7 37.1 37.3 34.8 33.7 32.7 33.8 37.7 n.a. n.a. Netherlands … 39.4 38.3 36.4 36.1 35.3 33.1 33.5 33.8 33.4 31.2 n.a. United States of America … 28.6 28.9 28.8 28.7 29.2 29.3 28.0 26.9 25.1 23.5 n.a. Austria … 40.3 38.7 38.4 380 37.0 35.4 34.3 33.5 34.4 35.8 n.a. Finland … 43.2 41.5 40.9 39.8 38.8 37.3 36.3 37.0 38.1 37.4 35.0 Greece … 63.6 62.5 63.0 62.3 61.7 60.7 59.1 57.1 57.0 n.a. n.a. Norway … 36.4 34.0 35.0 36.0 36.7 35.4 34.2 32.8 32.4 32.0 29.8 Spain … 47.7 47.9 46.5 45.6 46.1 44.9 42.7 43.9 42.7 41.8 n.a. Sweden … 32.2 28.9 27.4 27.7 27.0 25.0 24.4 22.7 23.0 23.2 n.a. Switzerland … 37.2 36.9 35.6 35.6 34.3 34.4 34.5 34.9 34.8 n.a. n.a. n.a.=Not available. Sources: United Kingdom—National Income and Expenditure 1972 (adjusted to international definitions). Other countries—National Accounts of OECD countries 1960–1970 and latest returns by member countries to OECD.