To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer of 28 November, if he will identify what figures are available to him for the gross national product per head of population for the German Democratic Republic and those aspects in which they are not fully comparable.

[holding answer 4 December 1989]: Figures describing the economy of the German Democratic Republic are available from the United Nations in "National Accounts: Main Aggregates and Detailed Tables, 1986". Dara are also given in the "World Bank Atlas, 1987". Both publications are available in the Library of the House. As for many of the centrally planned economies, this information on economic activity is prepared in accordance with the United Nations system of material product balances (MPS), which differs from the United Nations system of national accounts (SNA) used to describe market economies.