asked the Secretary of State for Industry what was the volume of United Kingdom footwear production, expressed as a percentage of total world footwear production, in each year from 1950 to the latest year for which figures are available.
[pursuant to his reply,13 March 1980]: It is estimated that the United Kingdom's share of the total production of leather footwear, in terms of pairage, was:
| Percentage | |||||
| 1966 | … | … | … | … | 4 |
| 1967 | … | … | … | … | 4 |
| 1968 | … | … | … | … | 4 |
| 1969 | … | … | … | … | 4 |
| 1970 | … | … | … | … | 4 |
| 1971 | … | … | … | … | 3½ |
| 1972 | … | … | … | … | 3½ |
| 1973 | … | … | … | … | 3 |
| 1974 | … | … | … | … | 2½ |
| 1975 | … | … | … | … | 2½ |
| 1976 | … | … | … | … | 2½ |
| 1977 | … | … | … | … | 3 |
These estimates are based on statistics of production published by the United Nations in "The Growth of World Industry", volume II 1975 and 1977. They exclude production by a number of countries including China and Hong Kong.
Estimates for earlier years and other types of footwear would not be satisfactory because the figures are incomplete and are not on a consistent basis.