HC Deb 19 October 1981 vol 10 c39W
Mr. Chris Patten

asked the Secretary of State for Trade what was the United Kingdom share in world trade in each year since 1945.

Mr. Peter Rees:

Comprehensive information is available for the year 1948 and for 1951 onwards, but there are some relatively small discontinuities in this information. The following percentage shares are therefore approximate.

United Kingdom Share of the Value of World Trade
per cent
1948 11.6
1951 9.3
1952 9.7
1953 9.1
1954 9.1
1955 9.2
1956 9.1
1957 8.8
1958 8.8
1959 8.5
1960 8.2
1961 8.2
1962 7.9
1963 7.8
1964 7.4
1965 7.4
1966 7.2
1967 6.7
1968 6.4
1969 6.4
1970 6.3
1971 6.3
1972 5.7
1973 5.1
1974 4.6
1975 4.9
1976 4.6
1977 4.9
1978 5.2
1979 5.3
1980 5.5