§ Mr. Canavanasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what are 468W the most recent available figures for the total annual expenditures on education in the United Kingdom and in the other EEC countries, respectively; and what percentage of each country's gross national product this in each case.
§ Mr. PrenticeThe most recent figures available on a comparable basis for the United Kingdom and the other eight EEC countries are those published in the 1972 UNESCO statistical yearbook in respect of public expenditure on education in 1969. The figures and the percentages which they represented of each country's gross national product are:
1969: PUBLIC EXPENDITURE ON EDUCATION Million units of national currency Percentage of gross national product at market prices United Kingdom (£ sterling) 2,579 5.6 Belgium (Franc) 62,308 5.4 Denmark (Krone) 6,818 6.5 Federal Republic of Germany (Deutsche Mark) 21,887 3.6 France* (Franc) 32,774 4.5 Ireland (Pound) 70 4.8 Italy (Lira) 2,195,727 4.3 Luxembourg (Franc) 2,165 4.9 Netherlands (Guilder) 7,453† 7.3 * Includes Overseas Departments of France. † Includes private expenditure relating to private education. It must be emphasised that the UNESCO definition of public expenditure differs from that used in corresponding statistics compiled by the United Kingdom and that the UNESCO definition of gross national product is at market prices rather than at factor cost. Moreover, since the education systems of the various countries have salient differences which can affect comparability, care should be exercised in any use made of these figures.