§ Mr. Knoxasked the Secretary of State for Industry if he will publish a table showing, on the assumption that the first quarter of 1974 is 100, what would be the index number for commodities traded internationally in each of the quarters from 1964 to the latest date for which information is available.
§ Mr. DeakinsI have been asked to reply.
The following tables are derived from the index numbers of world export prices which are published by the Statistical Office of the United Nations in terms of the United States dollar. For convenience, the figures have also been given in terms of sterling.
INDEX NUMBERS OF WORLD EXPORT PRICES (PRIMARY COMMODITIES AND NON-FERROUS BASE METALS) A. In terms of US dollars 1974 1st quarter=100 1st quarter 2nd quarter 3rd quarter 4th quarter 1964 37 36 36 36 1965 36 37 36 37 1966 38 38 38 37 1967 36 36 36 36 1968 36 36 35 36 1969 37 38 38 38 1970 39 39 39 39 1971 40 41 41 41 1972 44 45 46 48 1973 54 61 70 78 1974 100 102 101 102 1975 102* B. In terms of sterling 1974 1st quarter=100 1st quarter 2nd quarter 3rd quarter 4th quarter 1964 30 29 29 29 1965 29 30 29 30 1966 31 31 31 30 1967 29 29 29 31 1968 34 34 33 34 1969 35 36 36 36 1970 37 37 37 37 1971 38 39 38 37 1972 39 40 43 47 1973 51 55 64 74 1974 100 97 98 100 1975 97* * Projections based on information collected by Department of Industry. Source:Statistical Office of the United Nations.