HL Deb 04 February 1981 vol 416 c1273WA
Lord Bruce of Donington

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they will state, in amplification of the statistics set out in Tables 11 and 15 of the Department of Trade press notice (ref. 28 of 16th January 1981) relating to trade in December 1980, the export and import figures in respect of fuel included in the exports to the European Community and imports from the European Community respectively for each of the years 1979 and 1980, the fourth quarter of 1979, each of the five quarters of 1980, and each of the months October, November and December 1980.

Lord Trefgarne

The figures for United Kingdom trade with the European Community given in the press notice tables are seasonally adjusted. Figures of UK-EC trade in fuels are not compiled on a seasonally adjusted basis. The table below gives, therefore, the recorded figures for trade in fuels, and the comparable figures for total trade.

UNITED KINGDOM TRADE WITH THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY*
£million OTS basis
Exports Imports
Total trade Fuels Total trade Fuels
SITC 0–9 SITC 3 SITC 0–9 SITC 3
1979 … … 17,876 2,720 20,874 1,595
1980 … … 20,826 4,284 20,803 1,481
1979 QA … 5,225 919 5,599 427
1980 Q1 … 5,332 957 5,843 462
Q2 … 5,270 1,048 5,462 347
Q3 … 4,859 1,115 4,672 308
Q4 … 5,365 1,164 4,826 364
1980 Oct … 1,877 399 1,721 115
Nov … 1,692 342 1,552 121
Dec … 1,781 400 1,568 133

Notes:

SITC—Standard International Trade Classification.

As a result of the way the figures are compiled, there are some small differences between the annual data in the table and those now appearing in the press notice, and also between the months and the fourth quarter of 1980.

*Excluding Greece.

Source: Overseas Trade Statistics of the United Kingdom.