§ Mr. Dykesasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what proportion of gross national product was devoted to(a) public health expenditure and, (b) private health expenditure in the United Kingdom and the major European Community countries in the latest year for which figures are available.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeDifferences between the health care and health financing systems between the member states of the European Community, and between their systems for classifying expenditure, mean that no precise comparisons can be made. However, an OECD report in preparation gives the figures for public and private health expenditure as a percentage of gross domestic product for 1980, which are included in the following table, together with United Kingdom figures for 1982:
Public per cent. Private per cent. Belgium (1980) 5.4 0.5 Denmark (1980) 6.2 1.6 France (1980) 6.2 1.8 Germany (1980) 6.1 1.9 Greece (1980) 2.9 2.7 Ireland (1980) 8.2 0.2 Italy (1980) 5.8 0.7 Netherlands (1980) 6.5 1.8 Luxembourg (1980) 6.6 3.9 United Kingdom (1982) *5.4 0.5 * This covers gross NHS expenditure in the United Kingdom. Figures of this kind provide no more than a rough guide to relative levels of expenditure; and should not be taken as necessarily representing differences in the levels of provision.