§ Mr. John H. Osbornasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, from information available to him, what percentage of the gross national product and funds in total is now being spent on research and development; of this, how much is public expenditure and how much private expenditure; how this has changed over the
ESTIMATED EXPENDITURE ON SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE UNITED KINGDOM* Total In value terms As proportion of GNP§ Public sector† Private sector‡ As proportion of total expenditure║ £ million Per cent. Per cent Per cent. 1975–76 … … … 2,151 2.2 58 42 1972–73 … … … 1,313 2.3 55 45 1968–69 … … … 998 2.6 54 46 1964–65 … … … 771 2.6 58 42 * Excluding research in the social sciences and humanities. † Central and local government and public corporations. ‡ Including funding from overseas. § At factor cost. ║ By source of funds. Preliminary figures from the OECD international survey of the resources devoted to R and D in 1975, on the basis of expenditure on scientific R and D as a proportion of gross domestic product at market prices are: United Kingdom, 2.1 per cent.; EEC countries as a whole, 1.8 per cent. USA, 2.3 per cent.