HC Deb 27 April 1983 vol 41 cc340-2W
Mr. Adley

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the current definition of a service sector job as used in the compilation of statistics in his Department; and if he will tabulate the occupations covered thereby.

Mr. Gummer

The service sector is currently defined in the Department's statistics in terms of industries described in the standard industrial classification—1968—a copy of which is in the Library. The industry orders which comprise the service sector are as follows:

XXII Transport and communication
XXIII Distributive trades
XXIV Insurance, banking, finance and business services
XXV Professional and scientific services
XXVI Miscellaneous services
XXVII Public administration and defence

Employees of any of these industries are classified as working in the service sector regardless of their occupation. For example, managers in the retail trade are included in service industry statistics, but managers in manufacturing industries are not.

Mr. Adley

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will tabulate, for all Organisations for Economic Co-operation and Development countries, the percentage of the working population employed in the service sector, for each of the last 10 years for which figures are available.

Mr. Gummer

The following is the latest available information. It should be noted that comparisons of this type can be affected by differences in concepts and methods of compilation in the different countries.

1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981
France 47 48 48 49 50 50 51 51 52 52
Germany 44 45 44 45 45 46 47 47 47 49
Greece 37 38 38
Iceland 46 46 47 47 48 48 49 50
Ireland 41 42 42 43 43 44 44 45 45
Italy 39 40 41 42 42 42 43 44 44 45
Luxembourg 47 48 48 49 51 53 54 55 55
Netherlands 55 56 56 56 57 58 59 59 59
Norway 53 54 54 55 56 58 59 60 61
Portugal 30 30 30 31 31 32 33
Spain 37 38 38 38 39 39 39 40 39 39
Sweden —.
Switzerland 47 48 49 51 52 52 53 53 53
Turkey 17 18 18 18 19 19 20 20 20
United Kingdom 52 53 54 55 54 54 55 55 55 55

Source: OECD—Labour Force Statistics.

Note: Service industries are defined as: wholesale and retail trade, restaurants and hotels; transport, storage and communication, finance, insurance, real estate and business services; community, social and personal services. Activities not adequately defined are also included in the figure.

Mr. Adley

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if, for the years 1950 to 1982, he will list (a) the actual numbers of people employed in the service sector and (b) this number expressed as a percentage of the employed population.

Mr. Gummer

The following table shows the numbers of employees working in service industries and the proportions they formed of the total employed labour force:

Employees in Employment: Service Industries*
(GB)
June Thousand As percentage of total employed labour force
1950 8,698 38
1951 8,698 38
1952 8,753 38
1953 8,787 38
1954 8,924 38
1955 8,993 38
1956 9,138 38
1957 9,247 39
1958 9,258 39
1959‡ 9,379 39
1959|| 9,788 42
1960 9,965 42
1961 10,177 43
1962 10,477 43
1963 10,651 44
1964 10,846 44
1965 11,037 45
1966 11,221 45
1967 11,188 46
1968 11,244 46
1969 11,243 46
1970 11,292 47
1971 11,358 47
1972 11,637 49
1973 12,063 49
1974 12,214 50
1975 12,522 51
1976 12,601 52
1977 12,679 52
1978 13,240 53
1979 12,878 53
1980 13,363 54
1981 13,124 56
1982¶ 12,971 56
* Defined as orders XXII to XXVII of standard industrial classification (1968) in the period 1959 (second row) to 1982 and as orders XIX

to XXIV of standard industrial classification (1948) in the period 1950 to 1959 (first row).
† The employed labour force includes employees in employment, self-employed and armed forces.
‡ The estimates for 1959 (first row) and earlier years are based on counts of national insurance cards.
|| The estimates for 1971 and later years are based on employment censuses and surveys; those for 1959 (second row) to 1970 were derived from counts of national insurance cards but have been adjusted to be comparable with the census-based figures for later years.
¶ Provisional.