HC Deb 02 December 1985 vol 88 cc84-5W
Mr. Nicholas Winterton

asked the Paymaster General what information he has as to how many people are currently employed in textile industries of each of the member countries of the EEC.

Mr. Alan Clark

The latest available data for most countries relate to 1983, and are given in "Employment and Unemployment 1985", page 146, published by the Statistical Office of the European Communities, a copy of which is in the Library.

Mr. Nicholas Winterton

asked the Paymaster General what information he has as to the total number of people employed in the textile industry throughout the EEC in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available; and what this figure is as a percentage of the total labour force of the manufacturing industries of the EEC in each of those years.

Mr. Alan Clark

The information requested is given in the following table:

Employees in employment in the textile industry European Community* 1974 to 1983
Thousand As percentage of employees in employment in all manufacturing industries
1974 2,094.5 17.3
1975 1,985.2 17.0
1976 1,823.3 16.1
1977 1,807.7 16.0
1978 1,738.6 15.5
1979 1,657.7 14.8
1980 1,595.1 14.4
1981 1,494.8 14.0
1982 1,419.5 13.7
1983 1,346.7 13.3
* Excluding Greece and Luxembourg, for which figures are not available.

Source: Derived from Statistical Office of the European Communities "Employment and Unemployment 1985".