To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what information he has as to the number of millionaires in Britain in 1974, 1979, 1984 and 1989, or the latest convenient date.

Estimates of the number of individuals in the United Kingdom owning wealth of £l million or more in each of the years 1979 to 1988 are available in table V.3 of an article entitled "Estimates of the distribution of personal wealth" in the October 1990 edition of Economic Trends. The estimates for 1987 and 1988 are provisional. Estimates for 1974 are not readily available.