HC Deb 17 February 1982 vol 18 cc155-6W
Mr. D. E. Thomas

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the gross national product per head of each country in Europe.

Mr. Brittan

[pursuant to his reply, 15 February 1982, c. 29]: The latest estimates in terms of US dollars, for the years 1978 and 1979, are given in the 1980 World Bank

1981 Consumer Prices (percentage change on year earlier)
October november december
United States 10.2 9.6 8.9
Canada 12.7 12.2 12.1
Japan 4.7 3.6 4.3
Belgium 7.8 7.8 n/a
Denmark 11.9 12.2 n/a
France 14.1 14.3 14.0
West Germany 6.7 6.6 6.3
Greece 25.4 23.8 n/a
Ireland n/a 23.3 n/a
Italy 18.6 18.7 17.9
Luxembourg 8.8 8.5 n/a
Netherlands 7.1 7.3 n/a
United Kingdom 11.7 12.0 12.0

Sources:

OECD Main Economic Indicators for October and most of November's figures.

OECD Current Economic Indicators for major 7 countries for December.

Commission of the European Communities "European Economy Supplement A" for Greece and Luxembourg's November figures.

Mr. Ridley

[pursuant to his reply, 15 February 1982, c. 28]: The information, calculated on the basis described in the previous answer, is as follows:

atlas, page 16. These data have been converted to a common unit of measurement on the basis of exchange rates, but these can give very misleading results since the rates do not necessarily reflect the relative purchasing power of national currencies in terms of the goods and services available in the countries being compared. A more realistic assessment is given by the use of purchasing power parities to convert to a common unit, but such estimates are not yet available for many countries.