HC Deb 14 March 1980 vol 980 cc757-9W
Mr. Austin Mitchell

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will publish in the Official Report, the latest

Mr Jim Lester

The percentage increases for men and women respectively have been as follows:

figures of relative prices in the United States of America and other European Economic Community countries based on London prices being represented by 100.

Mr. Lawson

Figures for relative cost of living levels in various cities of the world are published twice yearly in the United NationsMonthly Bulletin of Statistics. Adjustment of the latest available figures—which relate to June 1979—for subsequent exchange rate movements and relative inflation would give approximately the following figures for January 1980:

London 100
Brussels 116
Copenhagen 107
Paris 113
Bonn 117
Rome 83
The Hague 112
Washington 81

As these estimates are based on the expenditure patterns of United Nations officials they should be taken only as a rough guide to a more broadly based comparison of cost of living levels. Given their inclusion of non-traded goods, they cannot be taken as useful measures of competitiveness relevant to performance in international trade.