§ 69. Mr. W. Shepherdasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the latest available figures indicating the level of national production; and also the percentage increase on the level of 1937 and 1938, respectively.
§ Mr. JayThe Interim Index of Industrial Production was 40 per cent. above 1946 in the first half of 1950. Comparisons with pre-war years are difficult to make because of the changed character of industrial production and the lack of pre-war statistics, but it has been estimated that the level of industrial production in 1946 was not very different from that in 1938. On this basis, 237W industrial production in the first half of 1950 was about 40 per cent. higher than in 1938 and about 30 per cent. higher than in 1937.