HL Deb 25 June 1997 vol 580 c168WA
Lord Lucas

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What has been the average growth rate of the UK economy since 1979; and what, in their view, is the appropriate long-term growth rate to be used when making forecasts of the UK economy.

Lord Simon of Highbury

The average annual rate of growth of GDP over the period 1979–1996 was 2 per cent. A report by the National Audit Office, published on Thursday 19 June, endorsed an assumption of 2¼ per cent. trend growth per annum for the underlying growth rate of the economy as, "broadly consistent with past experience, with the range of published estimates of the long-term rate of growth in the economy, and with assessments of the medium-term prospect for growth."