Agricultural Sell-Sufficiency

Mr. Tebbit
asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list, for every year since 1945, the degree of agricultural self-sufficiency, as measured by the percentage of food consumed in Great Britain which is imported.

Mr. Strang
Estimates of the percentage of food consumed which is imported are available only on a United Kingdom basis and on a strictly comparable basis since 1955–56. The percentages do not measure overall agricultural self-sufficiency, which would be affected by other factors, notably exports of agricultural products and the proportions of non-food agricultural products such as animals, animal feed and wool, which are imported. The information is as follows: ---------
|1955–56|
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|1956–57|
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|1957–58|
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|1958–59|
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|1959–60|
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|1960–61|
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|1961–62|
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|1962–63|
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|1963–64|
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|1964–65|
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|1965–66|
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|1966–67|
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|1967–68|
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|1968–69|
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|1969–70|
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|1970–71|
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|1971–72|
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|1972–73|
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|1973–74|
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|1974–75|
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|1975–76|
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