HC Deb 20 February 1973 vol 851 cc72-3W
Mr. Meacher

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what has been the proportion of profits in national income, or similar national economic aggregate, in each of the last 10 years in Great Britain, the other EEC countries, the USA and other Western European countries for which the information may be available.

Mr. Nott

I regret that information on profits is not available from international sources. However, it is possible to derive figures for the national accounting concept of operating surplus for all but the latest years and these are presented below as a

OPERATING SURPLUS AS A PERCENTAGE OF NATIONAL INCOME
1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971
United Kingdom 24.3 23.6 24.5 24.6 24.6 22.9 23.7 23.2 22.1 20.5 20.2
Belgium 41.8 40.5 39.0 38.9 38.7 37.2 37.1 37.6 38.0 37.1 34.8
Denmark 40.3 39.3 38.7 39.3 37.1 35.4 34.9 33.4 33.6 n.a. n.a.
France 40.3 39.5 38.3 37.8 37.5 37.9 38.1 37.7 38.0 38.0 n.a.
Germany 38.1 36.3 35.9 36.1 35.7 35.0 34.8 36.6 35.2 33.7 31.6
Irish Republic 40.4 39.1 38.3 37.1 36.4 34.1 34.9 35.1 34.0 n.a. n.a.
Italy 47.6 45.9 42.7 41.4 42.2 42.9 42.8 42.6 42.7 40.3 n.a.
Luxembourg 41.7 38.7 37.1 37.3 34.8 33.7 32.7 33.8 37.7 n.a. n.a.
Netherlands 39.4 38.3 36.4 36.1 35.3 33.1 33.5 33.8 33.4 31.2 n.a.
United States of America 28.6 28.9 28.8 28.7 29.2 29.3 28.0 26.9 25.1 23.5 n.a.
Austria 40.3 38.7 38.4 380 37.0 35.4 34.3 33.5 34.4 35.8 n.a.
Finland 43.2 41.5 40.9 39.8 38.8 37.3 36.3 37.0 38.1 37.4 35.0
Greece 63.6 62.5 63.0 62.3 61.7 60.7 59.1 57.1 57.0 n.a. n.a.
Norway 36.4 34.0 35.0 36.0 36.7 35.4 34.2 32.8 32.4 32.0 29.8
Spain 47.7 47.9 46.5 45.6 46.1 44.9 42.7 43.9 42.7 41.8 n.a.
Sweden 32.2 28.9 27.4 27.7 27.0 25.0 24.4 22.7 23.0 23.2 n.a.
Switzerland 37.2 36.9 35.6 35.6 34.3 34.4 34.5 34.9 34.8 n.a. n.a.
n.a.=Not available.
Sources:
United Kingdom—National Income and Expenditure 1972 (adjusted to international definitions).
Other countries—National Accounts of OECD countries 1960–1970 and latest returns by member countries to OECD.