HL Deb 11 October 1999 vol 605 cc55-6WA
Lord Kennet

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How many persons hold accountancy qualifications per head of population in the United Kingdom; and how this compares with figures for other European Union member states. [HL3992]

Lord Sainsbury of Turville

There is no single definition of accountants either in the UK or in Europe. However, the current number of individual qualified UK-based members of the Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies, an umbrella body comprising the six chartered accountancy bodies, is 200,771.

Although no comparable figures are available for persons holding accountancy qualifications for European Union member countries, the following figures based on the report Continuous Quality Assurance—Statutory Audit in Europe published by the Féderation Des Experts Comptables Européens in April 1998 gives the number of registered auditors per head of populations.

Population million Country Population per auditor
7.9 Austria 7,924
10.0 Belgium 10,718
5.2 Denmark 2,600
5.0 Finland 2,926
Population million Country Population per auditor
57.2 France 4,347
81.2 Germany 6,283
10.2 Greece 24,519
3.5 Ireland 1,872
57.8 Italy 818
0.4 Luxembourg 1,444
15.1 Netherlands 2,523
9.8 Portugal 12,794
39.1 Spain 2,548
8.8 Sweden 1,934
57.6 United Kingdom 2,604