HC Deb 09 March 1984 vol 55 cc730-1W
Mr. Deakins

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what have been the balance of trade and balance of payments figures, respectively, as first announced to Parliament, for each year from 1964 onwards; and what are the latest revised figures for each year.

Mr. Kenneth Baker

The information is given in the table. The revisions implied result from changes in definition as well as the incorporation of later information. Whilst sometimes large in relation to the balance, revisions are usually small compared with total trade—viz. imports plus exports.

BoP basis, £ million
Visible Trade Current Account
*First estimate Latest estimate †First estimate Latest estimate
1964 -553 -543 -374 -358
1965 -276 -260 -136 -30
1966 -174 -108 -61 +130
1967 -528 -599 -514 -269
1968 -705 -712 -419 -244
1969 -177 -209 +366 +505
1970 +12 -34 +631 +823
1971 +295 +190 +952 +1,124
1972 -699 -748 +18 +223
1973 -2,348 -2,586 -1,468 -979
1974 -5,190 -5,351 -3,828 -3,278
1975 -3,211 -3,333 -1,702 -1,513
1976 -3,611 -3,930 -1,423 -837
1977 -1,657 -2,284 -35 +54
1978 -1,104 -1,542 +254 +1,158
1979 -3,233 -3,449 -2,437 -553
1980 +1,039 +1,513 +2,737 +3,650
1981 +3,013 +3,652 +6,036 +7,272
1982 +2,170 +2,384 +3,948 +5,551
1983 -954 -500 +2,049 +2,049
* Released by monthly press notice.
† Published quarterly in Economic Trends. A projection of this

balance based on information for visible trade only is published on a monthly basis with the visible trade figures. That projection is intended only as a rough guide to the balance, however.