§ Mr. Sheermanasked the Secretary of State for Industry what information he has as to the percentage figures for investment in research and development for the United Kingdom, and for each of the United Kingdom's major competitors, for each of the years from 1972 to 1982.
§ Mr. ButcherInternationally comparable figures for national expenditure on research and development are not collected by my Department; work of this nature is left to international agencies. In particular, the OECD has published gross expenditure on research and development as a proportion of gross domestic product—GDP—for the United Kingdom and its more important competitors. This data is to be found on pages 14 and 15 of the OECD publication: Science and Technology Indicators. Basic Statistical Series—Volume B, Gross National Expenditure 253W on R&D (GERD) 1963–1979 (ref DSTI/SPR/82.05) a copy of which is available in the Library. The figure of 22 parts per 1,000 of GDP for the United Kingdom in the year 1978 given in that reference is the latest available.