Catalogue description Records of Economic Departments

In 1934 the General Department became the General Division and was split into two departments. One of these was the Economic Department, which dealt with the marketing and development of colonial products and with trade relations, including tariff matters; its head became a member of the Colonial Empire Marketing Board. After the outbreak of war in 1939 a separate Financial Adviser's Department was created out of the Economic Department to deal with taxation, exchange control, war loans and war damage.

The Economic Department itself was divided in 1943 into Supplies and Production Departments. These departments co-ordinated colonial requirements, production and distribution, and the Supplies Department represented in Washington by the British Colonies Supply Mission, which was charged with maintaining the flow of civil supplies from North America to the colonies. In August 1943 a separate Communications Department was also created. By 1945 there were a number of economic departments; Commercial Relations and Supplies, Communications, Finance, Marketing, Production and Research.

In 1948 a Supplies Department was separated off from the Commercial Relations Department, which was renamed the Economic Relations Department and two new departments, Economic General, dealing with economic research and planning, and Statistics, were added; by 1949 they all formed part of an Economic Division. The following year the Economic General Department absorbed the Commercial Relations Department; a Commercial Treaties Branch, set up in 1952 took over the work of the Economic Relations Department, and in 1961 the division was reorganised and reduced to three departments, Economic General, Economic Relations and Finance.

In 1963 the Social Service Department was merged with the Economic General Department. In 1965 a separate Communications Department was re-established within the division.