§ Mr. Marlowasked the Secretary of State for Trade what has been the United Kingdom balance of trade in manufactured goods and overall with the former European Free Trade Association countries for each of the last 10 years; and what, in each case, has been the index of imports divided by exports.
§ Mr. Parkinson[pursuant to his reply, 19 March 1980, c. 232]: The information for EFTA as currently defined is as follows:
Total trade Trade in manufactures Crude balance* (£ million) Index number† Crude balance* (£ million) Index number† SITC (R1) 1970 -65 1.06 + 130 0.86 1971 -107 1.9 +85 0.91 1972 -254 1.19 -48 1.04 1973 -589 1.33 -312 1.21 1974 -725 1.31 -387 1.21 1975 -415 1.16 -288 1.14 1976 -527 1.16 -255 1.09 1977 -234 1.05 -59 1.02 SITC (R2) 1977 -242 1.06 -61 1.02 1978 -1,567 1.34 -1,142 1.29 1979 -1,315 1.23 -972 1.22 * Exports valued fob minus imports cif. † Imports (cif) divided by exports (fob).