§ Mr. Nicholas Wintertonasked the Minister for Trade (1) what was the volume of exports of textile and clothing products in the first six months of 1982 as compared with the first six months of 1981;
(2) what was the volume of imports of textile and clothing products in the first six months of 1982 as compared with the first six months of 1981; and what percentage of total United Kingdom consumption of these products imports represented in both periods.
§ Mr. Peter ReesI regret that the information is not available in terms of volume. The available information in terms of value is as follows:
January-June £ million 1981 1982 Exports * 1,097 Imports 1,485 Per cent. Import penetration * 38
United Kingdom Top 20 Trading Partners, 1981 Exports to £ million Percentage of Total Exports Imports from £ million Percentage of Total Imports 1 USA and Dependencies 6,269.6 12.3 USA and Dependencies 6,080.6 11.9 2 Federal German Republic 5,518.0 10.8 Federal German Republic 5,944.0 11.6 3 Netherlands 4,019.6 7.9 France 3,958.1 7.7 4 France 3,626.2 7.1 Netherlands 3,902.1 7.6 5 Ireland 2,813.7 5.5 Belgium/Luxembourg 2,452.2 4.8 6 Belgium/Luxembourg 2,092.0 4.1 Italy 2,337.7 4.6 7 Italy 1,742.6 3.4 Japan 2,203.1 4.3 8 Sweden 1,602.5 3.1 Norway 1,942.4 3.8 9 Switzerland 1,458.7 2.9 Saudi Arabia 1,895.1 3.7 10 Nigeria 1,428.2 2.8 Irish Republic 1,782.1 3.5 11 South Africa 1,218.8 2.4 Switzerland 1,708.0 3.3 12 Saudi Arabia 1,133.4 2.2 Sweden 1,533.9 3.0 13 Denmark 1,056.2 2.1 Canada 1,509.9 2.9 14 Norway 877.0 1.7 Denmark 1,179.1 2.3 15 Australia 862.0 1.7 Hong Kong 897.3 1.8 16 Canada 847.3 1.7 Finland 846.3 1.7 17 Spain 741.3 1.5 Spain 791.8 1.5 18 India 639.1 1.3 South Africa 652.0 1.3 19 Iraq 624.0 1.2 Kuwait 476.0 0.8 20 Japan 620.0 1.2 New Zealand 428.4 0.8 Source: Overseas Trade Statistics.