§ Mr. DayTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what was the United Kingdom's research spending from 1980 to 1990 as a percentage of gross domestic product; and what were the corresponding figures for the EC average and for the USA and Japan.
§ Mr. LeighThe available data are as follows:
Gross Domestic Expenditure on R&D (GERD) as a percentage of GDP UK EC average USA Japan 1980 — — 2.39 2.00 1981 2.41 1.73 2.45 2.13 1982 — 1.77 2.62 2.22 1983 2.25 1.78 2.71 2.35 1984 — 1.81 2.78 2.43 1985 2.31 1.91 2.93 2.58 1986 2.34 1.93 2.91 2.56 1987 2.25 1.97 2.87 2.63 1988 2.23 1.97 2.83 2.67 1989 2.27 2.00 2.82 2.80 1990 2.21 2.01 2.80 2.88 Source: OECD Main Science and Technology Indicators.