§ Mr. Gouldasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he will publish in the Official Report a table comparing the percentage increase in the volume of exports of finished manufactures each year since 1974 based on 1975=100 using current weights; and how this compares with figures based on 1975 and 1980 weights.
§ Mr. ChannonThe available information is given in the table:
Export Volume Indices: Finished Manufactures* Percentage change on previous year OTS basis Reference year† 1975 1980 Index type‡ Weight base
Paasche —
Laspeyres 1975
Paasche —
Laspeyres 1980
Weight base — 1975 — 1980 1975 + 5 +5½ n/a n/a 1976 + 3 + 4 n/a n/a 1977 +3½ + 6 n/a n/a 1978 - 3 -2½ n/a n/a 1979 n/a n/a - ½ - 3½ 1980 n/a n/a +4½ +2½ 1981 n/a n/a - 5 - 4 1982 n/a n/a — +1½ 1983 n/a n/a -5½ - 5 Notes: * These are defined as SITC(R2) Sections 7 and 8. † Relates to the reference year of the component index numbers that are combined to create the aggregate series. ‡ The Paasche index is a current weighted index in which the index number for each year is estimated using weights relevant to that year. The Laspeyre index employs a fixed weighting pattern.