§ Lord HARRIS of GREENWICHasked Her Majesty's Government:
What proportion of GNP was absorbed by the expenditure of central and local government and the nationalised industries in 1950, 1960, 1970 and 1978 respectively.
§ Baroness BIRKFigures showing the proportion of the gross national product absorbed by the expenditure of central and local government and public corporations, including nationalised industries, are given below. The public sector component of the gross national product consists of general government final consumption and public sector investment. Grants, subsidies and other transfer payments by general government are excluded since they finance expenditure by other sectors of the economy. The operating expenditure of public sector trading bodies is also excluded since such expenditure is "intermediate", contributing to the production of goods and services purchased by all sectors of the economy. The latest available figures are for 1977.
per cent 1950 … … 21.6 1960 … … 22.6 1970 … … 25.4 1977 … … 27.4 House adjourned at two minutes past midnight.