§ Mr. MilburnTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer for each year since 1979 what proportion of United Kingdom demand for manufactured goods was met through imports. [7828]
§ Mrs. Angela Knight[holding answer 6 December 1996]: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the chief executive of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Tim Holt to Mr. Alan Milburn, dated 14 January 1997:
The Chancellor of the Exchequer has asked me to reply as the Director of the Office for National Statistics to your recent question on what proportion of United Kingdom demand for manufactured goods was met through imports, for each year since 1979.The table below shows the import penetration ratios for the years 1979 to 1995, with the exception of the years 1989 to 1992 where figures are not available. Latest revised data are shown together with the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) on which data are based. From 1993 data were collected according to a SIC 1992 classification which changed the definition of manufacturing. The 1993–1995 data have been grouped to a SIC(80) basis to produce a series which is broadly comparable over the period.
Year SIC Percentage 1979 1980 26.9 1980 1980 26.2 1981 1980 27.8 1982 1980 29.0 1983 1980 31.1 1984 1980 33.4 1985 1980 34.3 1986 1980 34.3 1987 1980 35.2 1988 1980 35.6 1993 1992 43.0 1994 1992 47.0 1995 1992 45.0