§ Mr. D. E. Thomasasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the average annual percentage growth in the proportion of gross national product spent on (a) health services and (b) social services by each of the member States of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development during the periods 1948 to 1958 and 1958 to 1973, respectively.
§ Mr. Robert SheldonNo figures are available for expenditure on the social services by the members of the OECD. The following table shows the current account consumption expenditure of general government on health services in 1960 and 1972—the earliest and latest years available—as a percentage of gross national product at purchasers' values for several OECD countries. Figures are not available for other member countries. Changes in the proportion of gross national product spent on health services by general government may reflect changes in the institutional arrangements for the provision of these services:
Percentages 1960 1972 United States 1.1 1.5 Australia 1.2 1.6* Austria 3.3 3.5 Denmark 1.9 4.9* Finland 2.2 3.9 Greece 1.1† 1.1 Italy 1.0 1.2 Portugal 0.6 2.1 Sweden 3.1‡ 5.1* Turkey 0.9§ 0.8* United Kingdom 3.1 3.8 Source: National Accounts of OECD Countries 1960–1972 and 1961–1972. * 1971. † 1961. ‡1963. § 1962.