§ 66. Mr. William Hamiltonasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what has been the total public expenditure in each of the last eight years; what percentage increase this represents each year; what percentage of the gross national product the annual figure represents; and what 327W are the comparable figures available to him from international sources, for the United States of America, Japan, West Germany and France.
§ Mr. TaverneThe definition of public expenditure used in the United Kingdom covers current and capital expenditure of central government, local authorities, nationalised industries and other public corporations. Figures on this basis for the last eight years are given in Table 53 ofNational Income and Expenditure 1968.
Such comprehensive figures of public expenditure are not available for other countries and the widest definition which can be obtained from the returns made to O.E.C.D. relates to current expenditure of general government (central government and local authorities) together with capital expenditure on fixed invest-
INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS OF PUBLIC EXPENDITURE 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 Current expenditure of general government and capital formation of public sector Percentage increase over preceding year United Kingdom 6.1 10.2 6.8 6.5 8.8 10.0 9.2 13.0 U.S.A.* 3.7 9.5 7.1 4.3 5.4 6.6 13.3 13.9 Japan† 14.9 22.4 20.8 17.6 16.3 16.7 17.3 .. France‡ 7.2 12.1 14.8 13.9 11.5 9.1 9.1 9.9 As a percentage of gross national product at factor cost United Kingdom 39.7 40.9 41.6 41.7 42.1 43.4 45.1 48.7 U.S.A.* 30.4 32.2 32.2 31.9 31.3 30.7 31.6 34.1 Japan† 23.8 23.9 25.7 26.7 26.2 27.9 28.3 .. France‡ 44.2 45.9 47.3 48.7 49.6 50.5 51.3 52.3 Current expenditure and capital formation of general government, excluding public enterprises Percentage increase over preceding year United Kingdom 7.1 10.4 7.2 6.6 6.5 10.0 8.1 12.4 West Germany 13.7 12.6 13.4 10.2 8.0 11.1 7.7 6.8 As a percentage of gross national product at factor cost United Kingdom 34.3 35.4 36.2 36.3 35.9 36.9 38.0 40.9 West Germany 36.3 37.2 38.8 40.1 39.4 40.0 40.6 43.3 .. not available. *Including capital transfers abroad but net of the current surplus of government enterprises. † Public investment figures included in public expenditure relate to the fiscal year beginning on 1st April of the year shown. ‡ Excluding investment in stocks.