§ Mr. Wilsonasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish in the Official Report, from international sources available to him, a table showing the top 20 countries in order of gross national product per head of population for the years 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982 and 1983; and if he will express the relative positions in percentage terms using the United States gross national product as a base.
§ Mr. Peter Rees[pursuant to his reply, 23 July 1984]: Estimates of gross national product at market prices per head of population for the top 20 countries in respect of the years 1980 and 1981 are given in the 1983 "World Bank Atlas" which is available in the Library. Comparable results for other years are not available.
Alternative estimates of gross domestic product per head, covering the period 1964 to 1982 expressed in United States' dollars but relating only to the member countries of OECD, are given on page 86 of "National Accounts of OECD Countries 1953–1982 Volume 1 Main Aggregates", published by OECD and also available in the Library.
It is well recognised that the use of official or market exchange rates to convert estimates of GNP or GDP to a common unit of measurement can give very misleading results because the rates do not necessarily reflect the relative purchasing powers 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 397W of purchasing power parities to convert to a common unit. Figures on this basis for 15 OECD member countries are given on page 98 of the OECD publication referred to.