HC Deb 25 July 1986 vol 102 cc620-1W
Mr. Gould

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he will bring up to date the information on relative export prices and other matters given in reply to a question from the hon. Member for Great Gritnsby (Mr. Mitchell) on 22 October 1979, Official Report, columns 56–60.

Mr. Alan Clark

The information is in the following table. Index numbers are now based on 1980=100.

United Kingdom Share of Imports of Manufactures* 1984
Per cent.
Austria 3
Finland
Iceland 10
Norway 8
Sweden 9
Switzerland
Belgium/Luxembourg
Denmark 8
France 6
Federal Republic of Germany 7
Ireland 37
Italy 7

Per cent.
Netherlands 81/2
Portugal 91/2
Spain 71/2
* Standard International Trade Classification Sections 5 to 8.

Source: OECD.

Mr. Gould

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he will bring up to date the information on imports of manufactures as a percentage of exports given in the reply to the hon. Member for Great Grimsby (Mr. Mitchell) on 15 July 1980, Official Report, column 463.

Mr. Alan Clark

The information is given in the table, together with revised figures for divisions 66 and 79 for 1974 and 1979 which result from changes in coverage introduced in 1981.

1985* 1985*
SITC (Rev 2) division† Imports as a percentage of exports SITC (Rev 2) division† Imports as a percentage of exports
51 69 71 65
52 92 72 76
53 45 73 101
54 41 74 89
55 58 75 120
56 291 76 164
57 44 77 127
58 133 78 174
59 57 79 63
61 85 81 132
62 95 82 185
63 752 83 595
64 330 84 179
65 178 85 422
66 104 87 82
67 92 88 144
68 138 89 108
69 93
* Figures for 1985 are provisional.
† Due to changes in coverage of the Overseas Trade Statistics in 1981, figures for 1974 and 1979 (given previously) have been revised for Divisions 66 and 79. Revised figures are:

1974† 1979†
Division Percentage Division Percentage
66 117 66 110
79 65 79 67

Mr. Gould

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he will bring up to date the information on the volume of imports and exports of semi and finished manufactures given in the reply to the hon. Member forGreat Grimsby (Mr. Mitchell) dated 19 May 1980, Official Report, column 18, to include figures for 1985 on the same basis.

Mr. Alan Clark

The information is as follows:

United Kingdom Trade Volume Indices
1980=100 OTS basis
Imports Manufactures Exports Manufactures
Semi* Finished† Semi* Finished†
1949 n/a n/a n/a n/a
1959 24 9 39 42
1969 54 31 66 69
1979 102 100 101 97
1985 122 155 107 114

n/a = Not available.

* SITC (R2) Sections 5 and 6.

† SITC (R2) Sections 7 and 8.