HC Deb 16 February 1979 vol 962 c698W
Mr. Pardoe

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list for those Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries for which information is available, the percentage of government expenditure and gross national product, respectively, which goes to pay the wages of those employed in the public sector.

Mr. Denzil Davies,

pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 15 February 1979], gave the following information:

The information which is available on the wages of employees in the public sector on an internationally comparable basis relates to the general government sector and does not cover public corporations. Figures for the wages of general government employees as a percentage of general government expenditure and of gross national product are available for eight countries, generally for 1974 or 1975, and are given in the table below.

Wages(1) of general government, employees
As proportion of gross national product(2)per cent. As proportion of general government(3)expenditure per cent.
Italy(5) 10 27
Netherlands(4) 14 25
Norway(4) 13 28
Portugal(5) 8 32
Spain(5) 7 30
Sweden(4) 17 33
Turkey(6) 10 45
United Kingdom (4) 15 32
(1) Compensation of employees, salaries and employers' contributions security funds, superannuation, etc.
(2) At market prices.
(3) Excluding loans and capital transfers.
(4) Figures relate To 1975.
(5) Figures relate to 1974.
(6) Figures relate to 1972.

Source: United Nations Yearbook of National Accounts Statistics 1976.