§ Mr. ForthTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list for(a) 1970, (b) 1980, (c) 1990 and (d) the latest available date, the totals for United Kingdom private sector overseas investment in (i) the other European Union countries, (ii) North America and (iii) the rest of the world. [14483]
§ Mrs. LiddellThe information requested falls within the responsibility of the Chief Executive of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from John Kidgell to Mr. Eric Forth, dated 11 November 1997:
The Chancellor of the Exchequer has asked the Director of the Office for National Statistics to reply to your recent question asking for a breakdown of the United Kingdom's private sector overseas investment. The Director has asked me to respond in his absence.The figures requested are shown in the attached table. They are based on net flows of outward direct investment i.e. where a United Kingdom company has a significant and lasting interest in an enterprise operating overseas. No information is available centrally regarding the geographical breakdown of portfolio overseas.
Overseas direct investment net flows £million Area 19701 19801 1990* 1995* 1990‡ 1995‡ EU (14 countries) 104 486 4,448 8,473 5,103 9,613 North America 185 1,861 1,152 11,092 941 10,523 Rest of the world 257 1,044 3,552 5,536 4,064 5,888 1 Figures for 1970 and 1980 exclude investment in oil companies. To enable comparison across time, 1990 and 1995 are presented both *excluding and ‡including oil companies.