asked the Secretary of State for Trade what have been the levels of direct and overseas investments, respectively, for each year since 1945; what percentage these represent, respectively, of domestic manufacturing investment and of gross national product for each of these years; and if he will publish comparable figures for the United States of America, France, Germany, Italy, Benelux, Japan and Sweden.
[pursuant to his reply, 18 January 1970]: For the purposes of international comparison, the only broadly-comparable information available relates to United Kingdom direct investment abroad—excluding oil—and to the United States direct investment abroad—including oil. It covers 1958 and subsequent years and is shown in money values and as a percentage of gross national product—which includes profits earned abroad—in the following table. United Kingdom direct investment abroad measures the amounts invested in share and loan capital, retained profits and trade credit by United Kingdom companies in their related concerns abroad.
| Direct investment overseas by UK companies (excluding oil)* | Direct investment overseas by USA companies (including oil) | |||||||
| Value | Ratio to gross national product at current prices | Value | Ratio to gross national product at current prices | |||||
| £ million | Per cent. | $ million | Per cent. | |||||
| 1958 | … | … | … | … | 144 | 0·7 | N.A. | N.A. |
| 1959 | … | … | … | … | 196 | 0·9 | N.A. | N.A. |
| 1960 | … | … | … | … | 250 | 1·1 | N.A. | N.A. |
| 1961 | … | … | … | … | 226 | 0·9 | N.A. | N.A. |
| 1962 | … | … | … | … | 209 | 0·8 | N.A. | N.A. |
| 1963 | … | … | … | … | 236 | 0·9 | 3,483 | 0·6 |
| 1964 | … | … | … | … | 263 | 0·9 | 3,870 | 0·6 |
| 1965 | … | … | … | … | 308 | 1·0 | 5,400 | 0·8 |
| 1966 | … | … | … | … | 276 | 0·8 | 5,416 | 0·7 |
| 1967 | … | … | … | … | 281 | 0·8 | 4,807 | 0·6 |
| 1968 | … | … | … | … | 410 | 1·1 | 5,295 | 0·6 |
| 1969 | … | … | … | … | 549 | 1·4 | 5,960 | 0·6 |
| 1970 | … | … | … | … | 546 | 1·2 | 7,589 | 0·8 |
| 1971 | … | … | … | … | 676 | 1·4 | 7,617 | 0·7 |
| 1972 | … | … | … | … | 737 | 1·3 | 7,746 | 0·7 |
| 1973 | … | … | … | … | 1,621 | 2·5 | 11,353 | 0·9 |
| 1974 | … | … | … | … | 1,575 | 2·1 | 9,052 | 0·6 |
| 1975 | … | … | … | … | 1,094 | 1·2 | 14,244 | 0·9 |
| 1976 | … | … | … | … | 2,108 | 1·9 | 11,949 | 0·7 |
| 1977 | … | … | … | … | 1,790 | 1·4 | 12,898 | 0·7 |
| 1978 | … | … | … | … | 2,178 | 1·5 | 16,669 | 0·8 |
| *Source: Department of Trade's overseas transactions inquiry results of which published in. Business Monitor, M4, Overseas Transactions. | ||||||||
| † Derived from various issues of US Department of Commerce" Survey of Current Business". | ||||||||