§ Mr. Biggs-Davisonasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what was the annual growth in gross domestic product, industrial production, productivity and real income, respectively, in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years.
§ Mr. Moyle, pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 21st May 1976; Vol. 911, c. 742], gave the following information:
Percentage change on previous year Year Gross Domestic Product at constant prices Industrial production Industrial productivity Personal income at constant prices 1971 +4.2 +6.0 +9.7 +2.9 1972 +3.2 +0.6 +2.5 +7.9 1973 +6.6 +5.0 +7.5 +9.4 1974 N/A -7.8 -4.0 N/A 1975 N/A +0.6 +5.8 N/A N/A= Not available. Calculation of GDP depends on the census of production for Northern Ireland in 1974 and 1975, for which Department of Commerce, NI, is still processing data.
1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 Visits by representatives of— (i) Overseas companies … … … N/A N/A 15 68 43 (ii) British companies … … … N/A N/A 11 56 36 Visits by officials of the Department to— (i) Overseas companies … … … 287 322 630 763 923 (ii) British companies … … … N/A N/A N/A 284 115 Inquiries received in response to letters from the Department from— (i) Overseas companies … … … 41 12 66 193 17 (ii) British companies … … … 3 Nil 4 32 Nil The toal number of inquiries received by the Department is not an accurate measure of companies' interest in the possibilities of industrial investment in Northern Ireland, which is more clearly reflected in initial visits made by company representatives to the Province and by the Department's industrial promotion officers to firms outside Northern Ireland.