HC Deb 31 July 1981 vol 9 cc571-2W
Mr. Shore

asked the Lord Privy Seal what has been the amount of official aid paid to developing countries by all aid donors and by the United Kingdom, separately, in each year since 1970; and what has been the increased cost of imported oil paid by developing countries in the same period.

Mr. Neil Marten

The value of official development assistance—excluding aid from the Communist bloc—since 1970 has been as follows:

US $ million
OECD OPEC United Kingdom
Development Assistance Committee
1970 6,807 Not available 485
1971 7,681 Not available 628
1972 8,538 Not available 673
1973 9,351 1,308 649
1974 11,610 3,446 787
1975 13,840 5,517 904
1976 13,947 5,595 885
1977 15,722 5,847 1,114
1978 19,986 4,338 1,465
1979 22,413 6,181 2,104
1980 26,708 6,999 1,781

The value of imports of crude petroleum and petroleum products by developing market economies since 1970 has been as follows:

US$ million
1970 3,945
1971 5,016
1972 5,865
1973 9,133
1974 24,363
1975 27,684
1976 32,340
1977 35,375
1978 36,521
1979 N/A*
1980 N/A*
* Not yet available.

Mr. Shore

asked the Lord Privy Seal what percentage of gross national product, and what amount in United States dollars, the United Kingdom has contributed to official overseas aid programmes in each year since 1970; and what was the comparable amount contributed by the Soviet Union over the same period.

Mr. Neil Marten

The value of United Kingdom official development assistance since 1970 and the percentage of gross national product represented, are as follows:

United Kingdom Net Official Development Assistance
US$ million per cent. of GNP
1970 485 0.39
1971 628 0.45
1972 673 0.42
1973 649 0.36
1974 787 0.40
1975 904 0.39
1976 885 0.40
1977 1,114 0.45
1978 1,465 0.47
1979 2,104 0.52
1980 1,781 0.34

In view of the difficulty in obtaining reliable information on the level and concessionality of Soviet aid over the same period, I shall write to the right hon. Gentleman about this aspect of his question, but the OECD development assistance committee has published the following figures for 1979 and 1980:

US$ million per cent, of GNP
1979 1,403 0.13
1980 1,580 0.14

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