HC Deb 13 July 1978 vol 953 cc782-5W
Mr. Knox

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, from information available from international sources, what was the gross domestic product per head at factor cost in New Zealand for the most recent year for which information is available; and how this compares with the figure for the United Kingdom.

Mr. Denzil Davies

The latest available figures are as follows:

Gross domestic product at factor cost per head of total population
US dollars
New Zealand
Year ending 31st March 1976 4,092
Year ending 31st March 1977 3,859
United Kingdom
Calendar year 1976 3,508

Source: National Accounts of OECD countries 1976 (Volume 1).

The conversion to United States dollars in this publication was on the basis of official or market rates of exchange, which do not reflect the relative internal purchasing power of the currencies and can thus be very misleading. Estimates based on purchasing power parities are not available for New Zealand.

Mr. Park

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the extent to which growth in gross domestic product reflects growth in incomes, expenditure and output in the public sector and private sector, respectively.

Mr. Denzil Davies

The public sector in this context is taken to comprise general government—that is, central Government plus local authorities—and public corporations.

The respective contributions to the gross domestic product of the public and private sectors' production of goods and services are indentifiable only in the income-based estimates and are therefore available only in terms of current prices. The estimates are compiled annually and published in the National Income and Expenditure Blue Books; the latest available figures are given in table 1.10 of National Income and Expenditure 1966–76. The share of factor incomes generated by general government, public corporations and the private sector in 1970 and 1976 are shown below. These shares of income are affected by movements of institutions between sectors; but the effect on the distribution between the private sector and the public sector as a whole is likely to have been small over the period quoted.

FACTOR INCOMES BY SECTOR
Per cent. of total
1970 1976
General government 16 19
Public corporations 10 12
Private sector 74 69

The output-based estimate of gross domestic product is compiled industry-by-industry and the overall estimate of the change in gross domestic product at constant prices is obtained by aggregating assessments of the changes in net output of each industry. The estimates, by industry, are given in table 2.2 of National Income and Expenditure 1966–76. Quarterly figures in rather less detail are included in the articles on the national accounts published in the January, April, July and October issues of Economic Trends.

Although some of the industries for which separate information is readily available lie wholly in either the public or private sector, some span the two sectors. The preparation of estimates requiring sub-divisions of the latter would involve a disproportionate use of resources.

The expenditure-based estimate of gross domestic product is obtained by adding together the various elements of final expenditure, or demand, and deducting the demand met through imports. The public sector component of final demand comprises the final consumption and capital formation of general government and the capital formation of public corporations. Following are the percentage increases in final demand in the domestic sectors and in gross domestic product, at 1970 market prices, between 1970 and 1977:

General government 11
Public corporations -1
Public sector
Private sector 10½
Total domestic demand 10
Gross domestic product 12½

It is not possible to give estimates of changes in each sector's demand on domestic output since imports are not analysed according to sector of end-use.

Mr. Park

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the gross domestic product per adult in the United Kingdom, currently; and if he will give comparable figures for 1974, 1975, 1976 and 1977, respectively.

Mr. Denzil Davies

Following is the latest available information:

£
Gross domestic product at factor cost per adult(1)
At current prices At constant (1970) prices
1974 1,829 1,186
1975 2,301 1,159
1976 2,692 1,191
1977 3,011 1,190
(1) Expenditure measure of gdp per person aged 18 and over.

Mr. Park

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the per capita gross domestic product of Scotland, Wales and each of the regions of England; and if he will express each gross domestic product figure as a percentage of the British gross domestic product.

Mr. Denzil Davies

Estimates of regional gross domestic product per capita at current prices in 1976 and as a percentage of the average for Great Britain, are as follows:

Gross domestic product per capita, 1976
£ GB=100
North 1,850 95.5
Yorkshire and Humberside 1,852 95.7
East Midlands 1,877 96.9
East Anglia 1,744 90.1
South East 2,155 111.3
South West 1,750 90.4
West Midlands 1,887 97.5
Northwest 1,855 95.8
England 1,955 101.0
Wales 1,712 88.4
Scotland 1,888 97.5
Great Britain (excluding the Continental Shelf) 1,936 100

Estimates of gross domestic product per capita for the regions of the United Kingdom are published in an article on regional accounts in the June 1978 edition of "Economic Trends". The total for Great Britain excludes profits of the offshore activities of the oil and gas extraction industry which are included in the Continental Shelf region. Income from employment of employees working offshore is included in the gross domestic products of their onshore regions of residence.