§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what assessment he has made of the effect of the Government's monetary and exchange rate policies since(a) 1979 and (b) 1988 on the import share of the United Kingdom market for manufactures. [29439]
§ Mr. Ian TaylorMy Department has made no assessment of the specific factors listed.
The import share of UK manufactures was increased from 27 per cent. in 1979 to 36 per cent. in 1988 and to around 40 per cent. in 1993; although it should be noted that the definition of manufacturing is not consistent between 1993 and earlier years. The rising share of imports in the UK market for manufactures reflect a number of influences, including the increasing specialisation of world production.
The 1979, 1988 and 1993 figures are not directly comparable because of changes in the definition of manufacturing.
The figure for 1993 excludes division 23—coke, refined petroleum products and nuclear fuel. These industries are included in the SIC(92) definition of manufacturing but are excluded from the SIC(80) definition and so have been excluded from these tables to improve comparability.
The extraction and preparation of metalliferous ores were included in the SIC(80) definition of manufacturing, but excluded from the SIC(92) definition. Import penetration for the extraction and preparation of metalliferous ores fell sharply between 1979 and 1985— 748W the latest year for which figures agree available. This means that the 1979 figure for manufactures is possibly overstated when compared to the 1988 and 1993 figures.
The extraction of minerals was also included in the SIC(80) definition of manufacturing, but excluded from the SIC92) definition. Import penetration figures fell slightly between 1979 and 1988.
Source:
Annual Abstract of Statistics: Table 12.2. Monthly Digest of Statistics: Table 15.10.