HC Deb 15 January 1981 vol 996 c593W
Mrs. Renée Short

asked the Secretary of State for Industry what percentage of machine tools in industry are less than 10 years old at the latest date for which figures are available; and how this companies with the percentages for (a) Japan, (b) West Germany, (c) France and (d) the United States of America.

Mr. MacGregor

There are no official statistics of the age patterns of machine tool populations, but an article in "American Machinist" of October 1977 gave the following information:

Country Percentage of machines under 10 years old Date of Survey
Great Britain 39 1976
Japan 60 1973
West Germany *37 1976
France †34 1974
USA 33 1973
* Percentage of machines less than 11 years old.
† Percentage of machines less than 9 years old.