§ Mr. Knoxasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) from information available from international sources, what was the gross domestic product per head at factor cost in each of the other European Community countries for the most recent year for which figures are available; and how this compares with the figure for the United Kingdom;
(2) from information available from international sources, what was the gross domestic product per head at factor cost in Canada for the most recent year for which information is available; and how this compares with the figure for the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. BrittanIt is convenient to take these two questions together.
The latest available information is given in the table below. The figures are valued at current market prices, the basis used in international sources.
Gross domestic product at market prices, per capita, in 1980. US Dollars Based on exchange rates Based on purchasing power parities Canada 10582 na Belgium 11816 8724 Denmark 12952 9087 France 12136 9040 W. Germany 13305 9428 Greece 4210 4683 Irish Republic 5193 5066 Italy 6906 7202 Luxembourg 12570 9822 Netherlands 11851 8614 United Kingdom 9335 7629 na = not available.
Source: National Accounts of OECD Countries 1951–1980 Volume 1.
It is well recognised that the use of market exchange rates to convert GDP estimates to a common unit of measurement can give very misleading results because the rates do not necessarily reflect the relative purchasing power of the 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. Estimates on this basis are available for the EC countries and are given above.