HC Deb 22 February 1999 vol 326 cc89-91W
Mr. Chaytor

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will provide data on foreign direct investment in the United Kingdom for each of the last 20 years, broken down into,(a) the stocks and flows of inward investment for each year, (b) the percentage of foreign direct investment in mergers and acquisitions for each year, (c) the percentage of the labour force employed in foreign direct investment for each year, (d) the contribution of foreign direct investment to United Kingdom tax revenues for each year, (e) the total subsidies given to foreign investors for each year and (f) the total royalties paid to abroad by the United Kingdom on foreign direct investment for each year. [71561]

Mr. Wills

Available information is given in the tables. No official data are collected for tax revenues from foreign enterprises or total royalties paid to abroad by the UK on FDI.

(a) Table 1 shows the stocks and flows of foreign direct investment into the UK each year from 1978 until 1997, the latest year available. FDI covers not only the acquisition of fixed assets, stock building and stock appreciation but all other financial transactions, such as additions to, or payments of, working capital, other loans and credit, and acquisitions of securities. The figures cover transactions where the investor's purpose is to have an effective voice in the company, taken to be equivalent to a holding of 20 per cent. or more (10 per cent. in the 1997 figures). Stock figures are recorded at the end of the stated period. They are not cumulative totals of investment flows, but also take account of goodwill write-offs, revaluation of assets and exchange rate fluctuations.

Table 1: Foreign direct investment in the UK
£ million
Year Stocks Flows
1978 11,098 1,261
1979 1,740
1980 2,541
1981 16,962 980
1982 1,137
1983 2,063
1984 38,484 —245
1985 4,417
1986 5,645
1987 58,430 8,986
1988 71,652 11,562
1989 93,554 17,405
1990 105,760 17,155
1991 111,373 8,418
1992 114,409 8,816
1993 121,005 9,871
1994 121,336 6,046
1995 128,885 12,654
1996 134,654 15,662
1997 156,969 21,751

Note:

Figures for stocks of FDI were collected only triennially before 1987.

Source:

Office for National Statistics

(b) Table 2 shows the percentage of FDI flows into the UK represented by mergers and acquisitions of companies. The value of acquisitions is the sum of the value of transactions where the foreign business takes their percentage share of the relevant UK target to over 50 per cent. Figures are available only from 1986.

Table 2: Percentage of FDI represented by acquisitions and mergers
Year Percentage
1986 21
1987 26
1988 23
1989 62
1990 58
1991 51
1992 38
1993 42
1994 74
1995 88
1996 41
1997 53

Source:

Office for National Statistics

(c) Figures for the percentage of the labour force employed in foreign enterprises are available only for the manufacturing sector. This sector represents between 20 and 25 per cent. of total employees over the years shown. Comparable figures are not available for earlier years. In Table 3 foreign enterprises are defined as those controlled by companies incorporated overseas; this is different from the definition used in Table 1, where figures include all transactions where the investor's purpose is to have an effective voice in the company, taken to be equivalent to a holding of 20 per cent. or more.

Table 3: Percentage of employees in the manufacturing industry employed by foreign enterprises
Year Percentage
1983 14.5
1984 14.8
1985 14.0
1986 13.0
1987 13.4
1988 13.1
1989 14.9
1990 16.1
1991 17.2
1992 18.1
1993 17.9
1994 18.6
1995 17.2

Source:

Office for National Statistics

(e) Table 4 shows offers of grant accepted by foreign owned businesses in GB under Regional Selective Assistance (RSA), the DTI's main investment grant scheme, in each of the last ten years. Figures for earlier years are not available:

Table 4
£ million
Year Grant
1989 141
1990 166
1991 79
1992 85
1993 157
1994 155
1995 133
1996 170
1997 364
1998 167

Source:

DTI