§ Adam PriceTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of gross domestic product was spent on the public services in each of the last 20 years. [81918]
66W
§ Ruth KellyThe information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Adam Price on 5 November 2002
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question on what percentage of GDP was spent on public services in the last 20 years (81918)The term spending on public services is not precisely defined. The ONS produces statistics on Total Managed Expenditure, of United Kingdom National Accounts (the Blue Book) gives details of the components of this series. Copies of this are available in the House of Commons Library. The latest published data is shown in the following table:67W
% 1982 48.2 1983 48.4 1984 48.0 1985 46.5 1986 44.6 1987 42.5 1988 40.0 1989 39.5 1990 39.8 1991 41.6 1992 43.8 1993 43.8 1994 43.3 1995 42.9 1996 41.4 1997 39.8 1998 38.6 1999 37.7 2000 37.9 2001 38.9