§ Mr. Pardoeasked the Secretary of State for Trade if he will publish in the Official Report a table giving a three-month running average, seasonally adjusted, for the volume of United Kingdom exports and imports starting with the three months ended January 1974; and if he will make a statement about the implications of these figures for the current account deficit in 1976.
§ Mr. DeakinsThe following table contains the information requested.
The figures show that during the course of most of this year the volume of both exports and imports tended to weaken but that in the most recent past there are signs of the beginnings of a reversal in these trends. The outlook for 1976 is necessarily uncertain, but much will depend
MAIN MANUFACTURING COUNTRIES EXPORTS OF MANUFACTURES (SITC SECTIONS 5–8) (SEASONALLY ADJUSTED) 1974 1975 1st quarter 2nd quarter 3rd quarter 4th—quarter 1st quarter 2nd quarter 3rd quarter Value United Kingdom share per cent. 8.7 8.9 8.8 8.7 9.8 9.3 Volume indices (1970=100): United Kingdom … … … 130.5 136.5 139.5 131.8 136.5 131.4 127.4 Main manufacturing countries … 143.3 147.8 151.9 146.1 .. .. .. Relative volume (United Kingdom divided by main manufacturing countries) … … … … 91.1 92.4 91.8 90.2 .. Not available. Sources: United Kingdom Department of Industry. Main manufacturing countries based on figures published by the OECD and UN.