Úr þjóðarbúskapnum - 01.06.1962, Blaðsíða 38

ÚR ÞJÓÐARBÚSKAPNUM
volume increase of 25 per cent between these
years the real purchasing power of exports
decreased by 13 per cent. This is equivalent
to handing out 30 per cent of the exports in
1951 to compensate for the deterioration of
the terms of trade as from 1946. Measured
in terms of gross national product the deter-
ioration amounts to 10 per cent. The effect on
the national product can easily have been
more than this direct component effect, that
is some multiple of it, but nothing can be
asserted about this.
Due to the subtractions for depreciation and
the effects of terms of trade, net national
product and gross and net national income
rose relatively less over the period than gross
national product. The lowest of these indices,
that of net national income, was from 1950
onwards most often about 10 points lower
than that of gross national product. The in-
crease corresponds to a growth rate of 2.8 per
cent a year for the whole period, but 6.5 per
cent from 1952 onwards and 4.4 per cent from
1950 onwards. As measured from the years
1950 and 1952 the rise, therefore, is somewhat
greater than for gross national product, since
the important relative decreases caused by
depreciation and deterioration of the terms
of trade have then already taken place.
Production, consumption and
income per head
In order to arrive at indicators of produc-
tivity and welfare a few of the national acc-
ounts variables have been calculated on a per
capita basis. The number of working people
should, indeed, be used for the division into
the national product. But annual series do not
exist to cover that catagory. Calculations based
on fixed occupational participation rates per
age and sex classes, derived from the popu-
lation census of 1950, point to an 8 per cent
lower increase in working population than in
total population. But there are indications
that this tendency has, to a considerable extent,
been offset by increased participation by mar-
ried women. As a new population census has
been taken in 1960, yielding material now
being processed, no attempt is made in this
context to estimate the number of active popu-
lation in order to divide by that number.
Four aggregates are divided by the mid-year
population of each year: private consumption,
total consumption, gross national product and
net national income, all at constant prices of
1954. The indices showing the development
of these per capita variables are all considera-
bly lower than the indices of the undivided
aggregates. Over the period as a whole con-
sumption per head does not appear to have
increased to any measurable extent, but gross
production per head has increased by 20 per
cent corresponding to 1.2 per cent growth rate
a year, and net national income per head has
increased by 13 per cent corresponding to 0.8
per cent a year.
As is evident from table 6 and figure 5, the
period falls into two subperiods with a tur-
ning point at 1952. From the year 1952 private
consumption per head has increased by 33
per cent, or at a rate of 3.6 per cent a year,
total consumption per head by 34 per cent or
3.7 per cent a year, gross production per head
by 32 per cent or 3.5 per cent a year, and net
national income per head by 39 per cent or
4.2 per cent a year, all yearly percentages cal-
culated as compound rates of growth.
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