§ Mr. Andrew F. Bennettasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what proportion of gross domestic product is spent on education in primary and secondary schools in each member state of the European Community, the United States of America and Japan.
§ Sir Keith JosephThe available information is as follows:
352W* The 1983 Budget included for the first time a substantial contribution (Lit 1,461 million) from the European Communities Budget in support of the Institute's research programme.
† For 1985 the rate used is that current at the time of this reply rather than an average.
Percentage of gross national product on public sector 1st and 2nd level education Percentage GNP on education at: Country Year *Pre-school and 1st level †2nd level Belgium‡ 1982 1.5 3.0 Denmark 1980 3.3 1.1 France 1980 1.4 2.0 Germany FDR 1979 0.7 2.2 Greece 1979 0.9 0.8 Ireland 1980 2.1 2.4 Italy 1979 1.6 1.8 Japan≑ 1981 1.7 1.4 Luxembourg 1981 2.7 1.7 Netherlands 1981 1.7 2.3 United Kingdom 1982 1.3 2.2 USA¶ 1981 ●— ●4.3 * Nursery and primary schools. † Including non-advanced further education; as per standard UNESCO definitions. ‡Ministry of Education only. ≑Excludes public subsidies to private education. ¶Includes capital expenditure. ● Figure combined for Pre-school and 1st level with 2nd level.