PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Balance of Trade: Life Sciences (9 September 2015)
Question Asked
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much the life sciences industry generated in trade surplus for (a) the UK and (b) Scotland in the last year for which figures are available.
Asked by:
Ian Murray (Labour)
Asked by:
Ian Murray (Labour)
Answer
In 2014 the Life Science industry generated a trade deficit of £5.0bn for the UK.
Life Sciences goods that can be identified through standard industry classifications consists of pharmaceuticals, irradiation, electro-medical and electrotherapeutic equipment and medical and dental supplies.
Recent changes to international legislation on the compilation of the Balance of Payments have classed the trade in illegal drugs as pharmaceuticals. This change accounted for £4.3bn of the imports of pharmaceuticals in 2014.
Comparable figures for Scotland alone are not available.
Answered by:
Anna Soubry (The Independent Group for Change)
17 September 2015
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