§ Mr. Ripponasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of the gross national product has been taken by Government expenditure in the financial years 1946–47 to 1956–57, inclusive; and what is the estimate for 1957–58.
§ Mr. Powell:Expenditure by the Central Government, as a percentage of the gross national product, in each of the calendar years 1946 to 1956, was as follows:—
1946 45.7 1947 35.8 1948 32.2 1949 32.5 1950 30.4 1951 31.9 1952 31.6 1953 30.6 1954 28.2 1955 27.4 1956 27.7 In this reply Central Government expenditure includes both current and capital expenditure on goods and services and all subsidies, grants, interest payments and other transfers, including those made to local authorities and the National Insurance Funds. Expenditure by the National Insurance Funds is excluded. The figures are defined as in "Preliminary Estimates of National Income and Expenditure 1951–56" (Cmd. 123).
I regret that similar information is not available for financial years.
An exact estimate of the percentage for 1957 is not possible, but I would expect the downward trend to continue.