§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish a table showing the figures for the volume of gross domestic product and of United Kingdom exports of goods and services as shown in tables 25 and 29 of part 6 of the OECD National Accounts 1960–1989, less oil and gas.
§ Mr. MellorThe estimates given in tables 25 and 29 of the OECD: publication cannot be readily adapted to remove oil and gas. Series can, however, be derived from data available here in the UK.
500W
Gross domestic product at constant factor cost excluding the contribution of the oil and gas extraction industry given in the usual index number formal (1985 = 100): Year 1960 60.9 1961 62.2 1962 63.2
Year 1963 65.4 1964 69.6 1965 71.6 1966 73.0 1967 74.4 1968 77.7 1969 79.4 1970 80.9 1971 82.4 1972 85.4 1973 90.7 1974 89.9 1975 88.6 1976 90.0 1977 91.6 1978 94.3 1979 96.0 1980 93.1 1981 91.0 1982 91.9 1983 94.3 1984 96.6 1985 100.0 1986 103.5 1987 108.7 1988 114.2 1989 118.1 1990 119.2 The volume of exports of oil and oil products at 1985 prices is available from 1983 on the Central Statistical Office's database as series BOWX and exports of goods and services at 1985 prices is available as series DJCV. From these series it is possible to calculate an index of goods and services less oil on UK definitions.
§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will publish a table showing for EC countries, the United States of America and Japan for 1970 to 1973, 1973 to 1979, 1979 to 1989 and 1985 to 1989, the percentage increase in (i) gross domestic product less oil and gas, (ii) manufacturing output, (iii) real incomes as well as the increase in the number of, (iv) employed and (v) unemployed persons, together with the balance of trade in manufactures as a percentage of gross domestic product together with a table showing the increase in gross domestic product and manufacturing output in per capita terms.
§ Mr. MellorSuch information as is readily available on comparable bases can be obtained from the following international publications:
(i) gross domestic product less oil and gas
Table R1 in "National Accounts ESA Aggregates 1970–1989 Theme 2 Series C" published by Eurostat gives annual growth rates for gross domestic product at market prices. Data on a comparable basis are not available for gross domestic product excluding oil and gas;
(ii) manufacturing output
Page 16 of the US Department of Labour publication "International comparisons of manufacturing productivity and unit labour cost trends 1990".
(iii) real incomes
Information on compensation of employees which includes all payments in cash and in kind made by employers in remuneration for the work done by their employees is given in Table J in "National Accounts ESA Aggregates 1970–1989 Theme 2 Series C" published by Eurostat;
(iv) employment
501WInformation on occupied population is given in Table O in "National Accounts ESA Aggregates 1970–1989 Theme 2 Series C" published by Eurostat;
(v) unemployed persons
Separate tables are given for each country in "Main Economic Indicators Historical Statistics 1969–1988" published by OECD. Later data are available in the monthly "Main Economic Indicators" also published by OECD;
(vi) balance of trade in manufactures as a percentage of gross domestic product
The balance of trade in manufactures can be calculated from data in "Foreign Trade by Commodities: Series C" published by OECD and gross domestic product can be obtained from Table 1 for each country in "National Accounts ESA Aggregates 1970–1989 Theme 2 Series C" published by Eurostat;
(vii) gross domestic product per capita
Information on gross domestic product at market prices per head of total population can be found in Table B2 in "National Accounts ESA Aggregates 1979–1989 Theme 2 Series C" published by Eurostat;
(viii) manufacturing output per head
Page 15 of the US Department of Labour publication "International comparisons of manufacturing productivity and unit labour cost trends 1990".
Copies of all these publications are available in the Library of the House.
§ Mr. DobsonTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the changes made since October 1989 in the way trade figures have been collected, analysed or presented.
§ Mr. Mellor[holding answer 7 November 1991]: Following are the main changes:
- (a)Adjustments to statistics of oil exports. Since October 1989 better methods have been used to measure direct exports of crude oil from offshore fields, including adjustments for any such trade reported late to Customs and Excise.
- (b)Improved seasonal adjustments. Since January 1990 seasonal factors for the current month and the preceding month have been estimated afresh each month using all the latest available information. This replaced the previous method of calculating factors at the beginning of each year for all of the following twelve months.
- (c)Progressive development of detailed methodology. Various small refinements have been made to the statistics, such as more elaborate adjustments for differences in the length of a month and improved deflators for some high-value commodities.