HC Deb 28 October 1976 vol 918 cc369-70W
Mr. Forman

asked the Secretary of State for Industry (1) what has been the growth in industrial output in Great Britain over the last two years; and how this compares with the achievements of each of Great Britain's EEC partners over the same period;

(2) what has been the growth in industrial productivity in Great Britain over the last two years; and how this compares with the achievements of each of Great Britain's EEC partners over the same period.

5. Mr. Les Huckfield

The information requested is as follows:

PERCENTAGE CHANGES 1973–1975
Industrial Output Industrial Productivity (Output per head)
United Kingdom … -8.3 -4.8
Belgium … -6.9 +8.8
France … -6.7 -4.9
West Germany … -7.2 +2.2
Ireland … -3.4 +2.7
Italy … -5.2 -9.0
Luxembourg … -19.2 -16.8
Netherlands … -2.5 +1.8

SourceMonthly Digest of Statistics;

OECD Main Economic Indicators.

Notes:

1. Figures for Great Britain, as distinct from the United Kingdom, are not available.

2. No information is available for Denmark.

3. For other EEC countries, the information given is as nearly as possible on a basis comparable to that for the United Kingdom, but there are some differences in coverage. These are not thought to have any significant effect on the comparisons.

Labour productivity for all production industries in the United Kingdom fell by 4.8 per cent. between 1973 and 1975. Estimates of the corresponding changes for our EEC partners over the same period are as follows:

Per cent.
Belgium … … … +8.8
France … … … -4.9
Germany … … … +2.2
Ireland … … … +2.7
Italy … … … -9.0
Luxembourg … … … -16.8
Netherlands … … … +1.8

Notes:

1. Figures for Great Britain, as distinct from the United Kingdom, are not available.

2. No information is available for Denmark.

3. For our EEC partners, the employment figures used are not precisely comparable with the output measures. In general they relate to all employment in manufacturing only, but for Belgium they relate to wage earners in mining and manufacturing, and for Luxembourg to wage earners in all industry.

4. The output measure for Ireland relates only to mining and manufacturing; for other countries it relaets to all industry.

Sources:

Monthly Digest of Statistics.

OECD Main Economic Indicators.