§ Mr. Ellis Smithasked the Secretary to the Treasury if, for the years 1940, 1947 and 1956, he will set out in tabular form comparative figures and percentages for consumers' expenditure, expenditure on food only, gross fixed capital formation at home, value of physical increase in stocks and work in progress, exports of goods, exports of services, gross domestic product, and gross output of shipbuilding and engineering, and, for the years 1924,
1938 1947 1956 1947 1956 £ million Indices 1938=100 Consumers' expenditure Total 4,394 7,909 13,409 180 305 of which Food 1,285 2,104 4,376 164 341 Gross fixed capital formation at home 656 1,199 3,139 183 479 Value of physical increase in stocks and work in progress — 330 250 — — Exports: Merchandise 533 1,145 3,403 215 638 Services, etc 190 311 961 164 506 Gross domestic product 4,983 9,273 17,939 186 360
— 1935 1948 1955 Engineering, shipbuilding and electrical goods industries*: Index of Production (1948=100) … … 54 100 155 Gross output (£m.)† … … 350 1,620 3,289 Net output per person employed (£) … … 224 522 814 Average wage (£ per annum) … … 120 310 490 * Figures for 1924 comparable with those for later years are not available because of changes in the classification of industry. † The figures of gross output are not free from duplication: they include sales between establishments in the industry. Such sales are estimated at 6 per cent. of the total in 1948. 90W
— 1924 1934 1935 1938 1946 1948 1955 1956 Cost of living index (1914=100) … 175 141 143 156 — — — — Index of retail prices* (1948=100) … — — — — — 100 138 145 Index of consumer prices (1948=100) … — — — 51 87 100 130 136 Index of purchasing power of the £ (1924=100) … 100 124 122 112 66 58 44 42 * This index is the Interim Index of Retail Prices linked to the new Index of Retail Prices and rebased on 1948. 1934, 1946, and 1956, comparative figures and percentages for the value of output per man in engineering, cost of living, average wage in the engineering industry, and internal value of the £ sterling.
§ Mr. BirchThe table below provides, as far as possible, the statistical information asked for. Comparable information is not available for all the years required, but estimates have been given for the nearest year for which information is available. The figures have been derived from a variety of sources, principally the National Income Blue Book and the Censuses of Production.