§ 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 other member countries of the EEC.
§ Mr. Bruce-GardyneThe information is set out in the following table. There is no internationally agreed definition of national debt, and the national definitions vary widely. They are affected by the different administrative arrangement of each country, in particular by differences in methods of financing local authorities and public trading enterprises and the extent to which Governments holdings of their own debts are included. Comparisons between countries need to be treated with caution.
As the years for which public debt figures for other EEC countries varies, figures for the national debt of the United Kingdom have been provided for the years 1975–79 and 1982 with population figures also provided for those years.
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National Debt*† Population║ (thousands) Amount of National Debt per head of population £ sterling▀ equivalent United Kingdom (£ millions) 1975 46,404 ¶55,901 £830 1976 56,585 ¶55,886 £1,012 1977 67,166 ¶55,852 £1,203 1978 79,180 ¶55,835 £1,418 1979 86,884 ¶55,883 £1,555 1982 ‡117,959 ●56,020 £2,106 Denmark (Kroners million) 1975 -3,296 5,060 Kr. -651 - £52.36 Ireland (pounds thousands) 1976 3,612 3,228 £1.12 West Germany (D. Marks million) 1977 243,932 61,396 DM. 3,973 £996.49 Italy (Liras thousand million) 1977 69,731.5 56,446 Liras 123,536 £76.11 Belgium (Francs million) 1977 1,058,690 9,830 Fr. 10,770 £172.07 Netherlands (Guilders million) 1978 71,084 13,942 Gldrs. 5,099 £1,261.19 Luxembourg (Francs million) 1978 23,326.9 362 Fr. 64,439 £1,091.82 Greece⋆ (Drachmas million) 1978 328,179 9,360 Dr. 35,062 £127.74 France (Francs billion) 1979 3,639 53,480 Fr. 68,044 £7,611.02 * Public debt as given in the United Nations Statistical Yearbook except (a) for the United Kingdom, for which figures are taken from the Consolidated Fund and National Loans Fund Accounts—Supplementary Statements (b) for France for which figures are taken from the IMF Government Financial Statistics Yearbook. † At 31 December, except for United Kingdom at 31 March and Luxembourg at 31 October. ‡Provisional figure. ║ Population figures taken from "Eurostatistics—Data for Short Term Economic Analysis" published by the Statistical Office of the European Communities except for the United Kingdom for which figures are taken from the Annual Abstract of Statistics published by the Central Statistical Office. ¶ Estimated figures. ● Projected figure. ▀ Exchange rates used are as at end December of the year concerned. ⋆ Became a member of the European Community in 1981.