asked the Secretary of State for Trade what was the extent of the increase in British exports to Japan in the nine-month period ended 30th September as compared with the same period in 1977; in which areas the principal increase has taken place; and what is their total value.

Following is the information on the current basis of the Overseas Trade Statistics of the United Kingdom:

UK Exports to Japan	£ million
1977 (January—September)	347
1978 (January—September)	398
Increase	51
	14·7%)

The largest contributions to the increase in the value of total exports were made in the following sections of the Standard International Trade Classification (Revision 2):

£ million
Section 6 (manufactured goods classified chiefly by material)		15·5	(20·7%)
Section 7 (machinery and transport equipment)		13·1	(12·3%)
Section 8 (miscellaneous manufactured articles)		9·6	(23·2%)
Section 5 (chemicals and related products)		7·1	(13·0%)