statistics
The Oxford Companion to World War II
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2001
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© The Oxford Companion to World War II 2001, originally published by Oxford University Press 2001. (Hide copyright information)
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statistics. Accurate historical statistics are notoriously difficult to procure even under the most propitious of circumstances. The Second World War is no exception. It is true that under wartime regulations, and the mountain of additional paperwork that they generated, greater efforts were made to provide accurate statistics in areas vital to the war effort. But wartime dislocation and destruction created additional difficulties. The figures in the tables that follow are as complete as the published sources will allow; where a figure is simply not available, or is an estimate, this is indicated in the text.
Statistics, Table 1: The costs of the War
State | Bills. of national currency |
|---|
Source: Contributor. |
UK (1939–45) | £20.5 |
USA (1941–5) | $306.0 |
Germany (1939–45) | RM414.0 |
Japan (1941–5) | yen174.7 |
Italy (1940–3) | lire278.5 |
USSR (1941–5) | rbl582.0 |
Statistics, Table 2: Military production
State | Weapons Category | 1939 | 1940 | 1941 | 1942 | 1943 | 1944 | 1945a |
|---|
a figures for UK Jan-Aug, for US Jan-Aug, for Japan Jan-Aug, for Germany Jan-April, for USSR whole year |
b over 37mm |
c excludes landing-craft, torpedo boats, and smaller auxiliary vessels |
Source: Contributor. |
UK | Aircraft | 7,940 | 15,049 | 20,094 | 23,672 | 26,263 | 26,461 | 12,070 |
| Tanks | 969 | 1,399 | 4,841 | 8,611 | 7,476 | 5,000 | — | |
| Artilleryb | — | 1,900 | 5,300 | 6,600 | 12,200 | 12,400 | — |
| Major naval vesselsc | 57 | 148 | 236 | 239 | 224 | 188 | 64 |
USA | Aircraft | 5,856 | 12,804 | 26,277 | 47,836 | 85,898 | 96,318 | 49,761 |
| Tanks | — | c.400 | 4,052 | 24,997 | 29,497 | 17,565 | 11,968 |
| Artillery | — | c.1,800 | 29,614 | 72,658 | 67,544 | 33,558 | 19,699 |
| Major naval vessels | — | — | 544 | 1,854 | 2,654 | 2,247 | 1,513 |
Germany | Aircraft | 8,295 | 10,247 | 11,776 | 15,409 | 24,807 | 39,807 | 7,540 |
| Tanks | c.1,300 | 2,200 | 5,200 | 9,200 | 17,300 | 22,100 | — |
| Artilleryb | — | 5,000 | 7,000 | 12,000 | 27,000 | 41,000 | — |
| Submarines | 15 | 40 | 196 | 244 | 270 | 288 | 103 |
| | | | | | | (+99 midget submarines) | (midget submarines only) |
Japan | Aircraft | 4,467 | 4,768 | 5,088 | 8,861 | 16,693 | 28,180 | 11,066 |
| Tanks | — | 1,023 | 1,024 | 1,191 | 790 | 401 | 142 |
| Major naval vessels | 21 | 30 | 49 | 68 | 122 | 248 | 51 |
USSR | Aircraft | 10,382 | 10,565 | 15,735 | 25,436 | 34,900 | 40,300 | 20,900 |
| Tanks | 2,950 | 2,794 | 6,590 | 24,446 | 24,089 | 28,963 | 15,400 |
| Artillery | 17,348 | 15,300 | 42,300 | 127,000 | 130,000 | 122,400 | 93,000 |
| (Jan-Mar) |
| Major naval vessels | — | 33 | 62 | 19 | 13 | 23 | 11 |
| |
A second problem is the comparability of statistics. The figures for aircraft or naval production, for example, say little about the weight or technical quality of the end product. In the last years of war German and Japanese aircraft production shifted to large numbers of fighter aircraft to combat bombing, while British and American aircraft industries built large numbers of heavier and more technically complex machines. In 1944 Axis output was 40% of the number of Allied 'planes; but it was only 20% of Allied structure weight. Again German and Japanese naval production by the middle of the war was concentrated on submarine output or, in the case of the Japanese, the building of small suicide boats. American shipyards built a whole range of vessels, including more than 100 aircraft carriers, and hundreds of cruisers and destroyers. There are clear dangers in comparing raw figures on numbers produced, and this should be borne in mind when using the figures cited below.
Statistics, Table 3: Strength of the Armed Forces (millions)
Source: Contributor. |
| UK | USA | USSR | Germany | Japan |
1939 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 1.6 | 1.3 | 1.6 |
1940 | 2.3 | 0.7 | 4.2 | 5.6 | 1.7 |
1941 | 3.4 | 1.9 | 4.2 | 7.2 | 2.4 |
1942 | 4.1 | 4.8 | 10.9 | 8.6 | 2.8 |
1943 | 4.8 | 11.1 | 11.0 | 9.5 | 3.8 |
1944 | 5.0 | 14.8 | 11.2 | 9.1 | 5.3 |
There were also marked differences in the structures of the different war economies (see
world trade) which are not immediately apparent from the raw data. Take the figures on female employment (Table 4). Both Germany and the Soviet Union had very large agricultural sectors characterized in the one case by small peasant farms, in the latter by the collective farm. Both were compelled to use large quantities of female labour power to keep the farms going since the armed forces took a large proportion of the able-bodied male workforce. The result was an unusually high proportion of
women in the overall workforce. Female workers in the UK and the USA, on the other hand, were largely drawn from a pre-war pool of unemployed women, who were recruited to work in the new war industries. In the UK male farmers were regarded as a necessary skilled workforce and were kept for the most part at home to secure much-needed food supplies.
Statistics, Table 4: Women workers as a percentage of the civilian workforce
| | | | | USSR |
|---|
| Germanya | UK | USA | Japan | Ind. | Agric. |
|---|
afigure for May each year. UK figure for June each year. Japanese figure for Oct 1940 and Feb 1944. |
bincludes part-time workers (2 part-time = 1 full-time) |
Source: Contributor. |
1939 | 37.3 | 26.4 | — | — | — | 52.0 |
1940 | 41.4 | 29.8 | 25.8 | 39.4 | 41.0 | |
1941 | 42.6 | 33.2 | 26.6 | — | — | — |
1942 | 46.0 | 36.1b | 28.8 | — | 53.0 | — |
1943 | 48.8 | 37.7b | 34.2 | — | 57.0 | 73.0 |
1944 | 51.6 | 37.9b | 35.7 | 41.9 | — | — |
Statistics, Table 5: A Comparison of theGerman and British war effort
| Index of consumer spending (per capita, 1938 = 100) | War expenditure as a % National Income |
|---|
| Germany | UK | Germany | UK |
|---|
Source: Contributor. |
1939 | 95.0 | 97.2 | 32.2 | 15.0 |
1940 | 88.4 | 89.7 | 48.8 | 43.0 |
1941 | 81.9 | 87.1 | 56.0 | 52.0 |
1942 | 75.3 | 86.6 | 65.6 | 52.0 |
1943 | 75.3 | 85.5 | 71.3 | 55.0 |
1944 | 70.0 | 88.2 | – | 54.0 |
Under these circumstances it might well be asked why statistics are used at all. They are supplied here as a rough guide to the quantitative picture of wartime economy and society. If they sometimes tell only part of the story, they do provide a starting point. For all their limitations they make clear the extraordinary scale of the domestic war effort in mobilizing men for the front, in diverting the civilian economy to the many purposes of war and in trespassing on the lives and livelihoods of noncombatants. All the major warring states, save the US, devoted well over half their national product to fighting the war, and mobilized in the forces or in industry almost two-thirds of their active population. This was an exceptional feat of organization and mobilization; it is difficult to imagine that states today could afford its cost and level of sacrifice without intolerable strain. Behind the printed figures lies another story of populations subjected for years to extraordinary strains and losses. On issues such as these statistics remain dumbly eloquent. See also
demography.
Statistics, Table 6: Sources of oil supply for major combatant powers
N.B. The United States is not included as it was self-sufficient in oil supplies |
a includes oil delivered direct to the German armed forces |
Germany (000 tonnes) |
| | Home Production | |
| Total Imported | Natural | Synthetic | from the USSR | from Romania | War booty |
1939 | 5,165 | 1,465 | 2,200 | 5 | 848 | 745 |
1940 | 2,075 | 1,465 | 3,348 | 617 | 1,177 | 112 |
1941 | 2,807 | 1,562 | 4,116 | 248 | 2,963 | n.a. |
1942 | 2,359 | 1,686 | 4,920 | 0 | 2,192 | 140 |
1943 | 2,766 | 1,883 | 5,748 | 0 | 2,406 | 0 |
1944 | 961 | 1,681 | 3,822 | 0 | 1,043a | 0 |
a It is not possible to equate barrels with tonnage acurrately as it depends on the type of oil being transported. Very roughly, one metric tonne of crude oil (average density) equals 7.5 barrels; One metric tonne of aviation fuel (Kerosene) equals .128 of a barrel. |
b During 1941 the Dutch embargoed oil supplies to Japan. Imports came mainly from Mexico and the Middle East. |
c The bulk of production in the period 1942–5 was consumed by Japanese army and navy forces in the South Pacific or was sunk in transit to the home islands. |
Japan (000 barrels) a |
| Crude oil imports | Refined oil imports | Home production (natrual & synthetic) | Total domestic stocks | Imported from Netherland East Indies | Produced in Netherlands East Indiesc |
1939 | 18,843 | 11,818 | 2,332 | 51,398 | c.3,000 | — |
1940 | 22,050 | 15,110 | 2,063 | 49,581 | c3,500 | 59,109 |
1941 | 3,130 | 5,242 | 1,941 | 48,893 | 0b | 60,100 |
1942 | 8,146 | 2,378 | 1,690 | 38,229 | 10,524 | 25,939 |
1943 | 9,848 | 4,652 | 1,814 | 25,327 | 14,500 | 49,626 |
1944 | 1,641 | 3,334 | 1,585 | 13,816 | 4,975 | 36,928 |
1945 | 0 | 0 | 809 | 4,946 | 0 | 6,546 |
a Mainly from Mexico, Trinidad, and Venezuela. |
b In 1939–40 these supplies came principally from Romania and the Persian Gulf. In 1941 imports from Romania ceased, and Middle East output was sent direct to forces in North Africa, Iraq, and India rather than to the British Isles. In 1939 Romania supplied 5.5% of British imports, and 4.2% in 1940. |
United Kingdom |
| Total imports (000 tons) | Home production (shale oil) | from USA | from Caribbean (per cent)a | from Iran (per cent) | from East Med.b | Otherb |
1939 | 11,618 | 517 | 19.2 | 46.2 | 23.8 | 7.0 | 3.8 |
1940 | 11,271 | 660 | 16.9 | 47.7 | 16.8 | 11.0 | 7.6 |
1941 | 13,128 | 784 | 54.5 | 41.7 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 3.0 |
1942 | 10,258 | 950 | 60.0 | 40.0 | — | — | — |
1943 | 14,795 | 1,046 | 75.7 | 24.3 | — | — | — |
1944 | 20,344 | 1,057 | 79.0 | 21.0 | — | — | — |
1945 | 15,617 | 997 | not known | not known | — | — | — |
Source: Contributor. |
Soviet Union (million tonnes) |
| Home production | Lend-Lease supplies | |
1941 | 33.0 | 1941-5 total 2.84 Incl. | |
1942 | 22.0 | aviation fuel | 1.163 |
1943 | 18.0 | oils for blending | 0.834 |
1944 | 18.2 | fuel oil | 0.287 |
1945 | 19.4 | motor oil | 0.267 |
Statistics, Table 7: Civilian production (coal, steel, aluminium, oil)
State | Material | 1939 | 1940 | 1941 | 1942 | 1943 | 1944 | 1945 |
|---|
a German and Japanese production of synthetic oil and domestic supplies of natural crude oil |
figures for UK: coal and steel in million long tons, aluminium and shale oil in thousands of tons |
figures for USA: coal and steel in millions of US tons (2,000 lbs), aluminium in thousands of US tons, oil in millions of barrels |
figures for Germany: coal, steel, and oil in million metric tons, aluminium in thousands of metric tons |
figures for Japan: coal, steel, oil in millions of metric tons, aluminium in thousands of metric tons |
figures for USSR: coal, steel, oil in millions of metric tons, aluminium in thousands of metric tons |
Source: Contributor. |
UK | coal | 231.3 | 224.2 | 206.3 | 204.9 | 198.9 | 192.7 | 182.7 |
| steel | 13.2 | 12.9 | 12.3 | 12.7 | 13.0 | 12.1 | 11.8 |
| aluminium | 24.9 | 18.9 | 22.6 | 46.7 | 55.6 | 35.4 | 31.9 |
| oil (shale oil) | 517 | 660 | 784 | 950 | 1,046 | 1,057 | 997 |
USA | coal | 394.8 | 460.8 | 514.1 | 582.7 | 590.2 | 619.6 | 577.6 |
| steel | 47.1 | 59.8 | 73.9 | 76.8 | 79.3 | 80.0 | 71.1 |
| aluminium | 163.5 | 206.3 | 309.1 | 521.1 | 920.2 | 776.4 | 496.5 |
| oil | 1,265.0 | 1,353.2 | 1,402.2 | 1,386.6 | 1,505.6 | 1,677.9 | 1,713.7 |
Germany | coal | 240.3 | 267.7 | 315.5 | 317.9 | 340.4 | 347.6 | — |
| steel | 23.7 | 21.4 | 28.2 | 28.7 | 30.6 | 25.8 | — |
| aluminium | 199.4 | 211.2 | 233.6 | 264.0 | 250.0 | 245.3 | — |
| oila | 3.6 | 4.8 | 5.7 | 6.6 | 7.6 | 5.5 | 1.3 |
Japan | coal | 52.4 | 57.3 | 55.6 | 54.1 | 55.5 | 49.3 | — |
| steel | 5.5 | 5.3 | 5.1 | 5.1 | 5.6 | 4.3 | — |
| aluminium | 29.5 | 40.8 | 71.7 | 103.0 | 141.0 | 110.3 | — |
| oila | 2.3 | 2.0 | 1.8 | 1.7 | 1.8 | 1.6 | 0.8 |
USSR | coal | 146.2 | 165.9 | 151.4 | 75.5 | 93.1 | 121.5 | 149.3 |
| steel | 17.6 | 18.3 | 17.9 | 8.1 | 8.5 | 10.9 | 12.3 |
| aluminium | — | — | — | 51.7 | 62.3 | 82.7 | 86.3 |
| oil | 30.3 | 31.1 | 33.0 | 22.0 | 18.0 | 18.2 | 19.4 |
Statistics, Table 8: Sources and use of strategic raw materials (excl. iron ore, oil, and coal)
Material | Chief sources, 1938 | Chief war time use |
|---|
Source: Contributor. |
Bauxite ore | France, 16.5%; British Guiana, 13.8%; Hungary, 13.1%; USA, 7.7% | ore for aluminium, chiefly used for aircraft production |
Antimony ore | China, 22.2%; Mexico, 22.2%; Bolivia, 25.8% | lead hardener, used for shells and bullets |
Chrome ore | Turkey, 20.6%; S. Rhodesia, 17.5%; USSR, 17.3%; S. Africa, 15.3% | steel alloy, used in armour plate and for warships |
Cobalt | Belgian Congo, 32%; N. Rhodesia, 28%; French Morocco, 16% | steel alloy, used for machine tools |
Copper | USA, 24.9%; Chile, 17.3%; Canada, 12.7%; N. Rhodesia, 12.6% | cartridge cases, radio sets, aircraft |
Cotton | USA, 41%; India, 14%; USSR, 10%; China, 10 | clothing |
Lead | USA, 18.7%; Mexico, 15.7%; Australia, 15.6%; Canada 11% | bullets, shells, batteries |
Magnesite | USSR, 37%; Austria, 21%; USA, 16%; Manchuria, 14.5% | incendiary bombs |
Manganese | USSR, 41.3%; India, 17.6% | steel production |
Mercury | Italy, 44.4%; Spain 27.9%; USA, 11.9% | detonating agent, electrical equipment |
Molybdenum | USA, 92.4% | steel alloy for machine tools, aircraft parts |
Nickel ore | Canada, 87% equipment | steel alloy used for aero-engines, marine |
Phosphates | USA, 26.8%; USSR, 15.8%; Tunisia, 14%; French Morocco, 11.9% | fertilizers |
Potash | Germany, 62.2%; France, 19.4%; USA, 9.6% | fertilizers |
Pyrites | Spain, 22.2%; Japan, 16.7%; Norway, 11%; Italy, 10% | steel production |
Rubber | Malaya, 41.5%; Netherlands East Indies, 33.3% | tyres |
Sulphur | USA, 78%; Italy, 12.8% | explosives |
Tin ore | Malaya, 26.7%; Netherlands East Indies, 16.9%; Bolivia, 15.8% | alloy for bronze, gun-metal etc. |
Titanium | India, 68%; Norway, 25% | smoke-screens, steel alloy for cutting tools |
Tungsten | China, 37.7%; Burma, 16.5% | steel alloy for machine tools, armour plate, armour-piercing shells |
Vanadium ore | Peru, 31.2%; USA, 27.3%; S.W. Africa, 17%; N. Rhodesia, 13% | steel alloy for high-speed tools, engine parts, locomotives |
Wool | Australia, 26%; Argentina, 10%; USA, 12% | clothing |
Zinc ore | USA, 25.1%; Australia, 11.9%; Germany, 11.9%; Canada, 10% | electrical components, electroplating, wire, propellers |
Richard Overy
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