§ Mr. Ernie Rossasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of the gross domestic product of each European Economic Community country is taken up by public expenditure.
§ Mr. BiffenThe information which is available on an internationally comparable basis relates to the general Government sector and does not cover public corporations.
The latest information is given below:
General Government expenditure* as a percentage of gross domestic product at market prices 1977 Belgium 46.7 Denmark N/A France 44.1 Irish Republic 47.4† Italy 46.0 Luxembourg 51.9 Netherlands 55.8 United Kingdom 44.3 West Germany 44.4 * Expenditure by central and local government combined, excluding capital transfers, loans and expenditure on the acquisition of company securities, for which figures on an internationally comparable basis are not available. †1976 Source: National accounts of OECD countries 1960–77 Volume II.