HC Deb 15 February 1972 vol 831 cc62-3W
50. Mr. J. H. Osborn

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the value of all stock, including material, work in progress and finished stock, carried in Great Britain; whether he will express this as a percentage of national income at the present time; and from information available to him from international sources, if he will compare it with the equivalent figures for major European countries and the United States of America.

Mr. Higgins

The book value of United Kingdom stocks and work in progress at the end of September, 1971, is estimated at £18,100 million. Quarterly estimates of national income are not available, but the book value of stocks at the end of 1970 was £17,211 million. This represented about 44 per cent. of the estimated national income for that year. Equivalent figures for other countries are not available from international sources.