§ Mr. Dempseyasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what percentage of the gross national product is spent on education in the United Kingdom; and how this compares with the percentages of gross national product spent by member States of the European Economic Community and the Soviet Union, respectively.
§ Mr. OakesThe latest comparable figures available for other countries are published in the UNESCO statistical10W yearbook from which the following information which relates to public expenditure on education has been taken:
PERCENTAGE OF GROSS NATIONAL PRODUCT AT MARKET PRICES United Kingdom 1974 6.2 Belgium (Ministry of Education) 1973 provisional 5.1 Denmark 1974 7.1 France 1974 4.7 Germany (Federal Republic) 1974 4.5 Ireland 1974 provisional 5.9 Italy 1974 5.2 Luxembourg 1973 5.2 Netherlands 1973 7.9 In the USSR in 1974 corresponding expenditure amounted to 7.6 per cent. of the net material product.
It must be emphasised that the UNESCO definition of public expenditure on education differs from that used in the corresponding statistics officially compiled and published in the United Kingdom, and that the UNESCO definition of gross national product is at market prices—which includes taxes and excludes subsidies—rather than at factor cost. Moreover, since the education systems of the various countries have salient differences which can affect comparibility, care should be exercised in any use made of the figures.