London: Britain’s Office of National Statistics said prostitution and the illegal drugs will be counted when making the quarterly calculations of gross domestic product.
The statistics agency said on Friday that some of these activities are legal in certain European Union countries, and comparable figures are needed.
All EU states need the same standard because they are used to assess their contribution to the budget. “As economies develop and evolve, so do the statistics we use to measure them,” said Joe Grice, the ONS’s chief economic adviser.
At the moment, the only illegal activities included in GDP are estimates on alcohol and tobacco smuggling. The ONS said prostitution and drugs would add £10 billion to the £1.5-trillion GDP.
In 2009, the UK had 60,879 prostitutes who had 25 clients per week each paying on average £67.16 per visit. There were 2.2 million cannabis users who in 2009 paid up nearly £1.2 billion.
