§ Mr. Ralph Howellasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will state the national average earnings in each of
AVERAGE GROSS HOURLY EARNINGS OF MANUAL WORKERS IN THE COUNTRIES OF THE EEC Average gross hourly earnings* Country October 1964 October 1975 £ £ United Kingdom … … … … … … … … 0.33 1.26 Belgium … … … … … … … … … 0.31 1.83 Denmark … … … … … … … … … 0.43† 2.52 France … … … … … … … … … 0.26 1.32 Germany, Federal Republic of … … … … … … 0.36 1.87 Ireland‡ … … … … … … … … … 0.23 1.15 Italy … … … … … … … … … … 0.22 0.99§ Luxembourg … … … … … … … … … 0.41 1.99 Netherlands … … … … … … … … … 0.29 1.88 * Conversion of earnings from national currencies to sterling has been made on the basis of contemporary foreign exchange rates. † Figure for quarter ended September 1964 converted on basis of average of exchange rates for July, August and September 1964. Taken from a different source, it is not strictly comparable with the 1957 figure. ‡ Earnings figures for Ireland are not strictly comparable with the data for other countries. The 1964 figure relates to October but as earnings data for Ireland are now published in respect of March and December only, the 1975 figure relates to December. § Figure for April 1975 is the latest available.
Sources: (1) Earnings Denmark, 1964 —Year book of labour statistics, ILO. Ireland —Irish Central Statistical Office. Others —Eurostat series "Hourly Earnings and Hours of Work", Statistical Office of the European Communities. (2) Foreign exchange rates—Bank of England.