§ Mr. Charles Morrisonasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what has been the reduction in the numbers employed in the agricultural sector in the six original member States of the European Community plus the United Kingdom, Denmark and the Republic of Ireland in each year since 1961 and in total for the period.
§ Mr. WigginInformation in the form requested is not available in a consistent series. Such information as is available is as follows:
134W
Percentage reduction over the previous year in persons engaged in agriculture in the six original member States of the European Community plus the United Kingdom, Denmark and the Republic of Ireland 1961 to 1969 Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing* 1969 to 1980 Agriculture† 1962 4.2 1970 5.8 1963 5.6 1971 3.4 1964 4.9 1972 5.3 1965 3.0 1973 3.7 1966 4.3 1974 3.3 1967 3.5 1975 3.4 1968 4.8 1976 2.0 1969 4.5 1977 2.4 Reduction 1961 to 1969 30.1 1978 2.1 1979 2.5 1980 1.9 (Provisional Reduction 1969 to 1980) 30.6 Note:
(*) Source: OECD Labour Force Statistics, published 1973, 1978 and 1980.
(†) Source: Eurostat; including forestry and, fishing in France.
These figures suggest that the overall reduction between 1961 and 1980 was about one half.