HC Deb 21 January 1986 vol 90 cc108-9W
Mr. Deakins

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what information he has as to the latest available figure for average gross national product per capita in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries; what comparable information he has for the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance countries and the rest of the world, respectively; and what information he has as to the trends in these figures in the past decade.

Mr. MacGregor

It is well recognised that international comparisons of national income, product and expenditure are best made in terms of purchasing power parities. The latest available data for OECD on this basis are given in the OECD publication "National Accounts —Main Aggregates Volume 1, 1960–1983", page 125. This is available in the Library. For the OECD as a whole, the figures since 1976 are as follows:

GDP per head in current dollars using current purchasing power parities
(US dollars)
OECD—Total
1976 5,975
1977 6,516
1978 7,219
1979 8,021
1980 8,823
1981 9,741
1982 10,284
1983 10,914

There are no fully comparable data for the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance countries, nor for the rest of the world as a whole. Such estimates as are published by other international bodies must be treated with extreme caution.

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