§ Mr. Marlowasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will set out an index of prices of a packet of cigarettes, a bottle of whisky and a bottle of wine against an index of beer prices for the last 20 years, the index shown for beer being 1 in each year and the indices shown for cigarettes, wine and whisky being 1 in 1980.
§ Mr. Peter Rees[pursuant to his reply, 16 January 1981, c. 656]: Following is the information, which is based on the prices already supplied to my hon. Friend.
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The prices of cigarettes, wine and whisky relative to the price of beer (Beer prices = 1 and October 1980 = 1) Beer Cigarettes Wine Whisky (October) 1960 1.0 1.4 1.3 1.7 1961 1.0 1.4 1.3 1.7 1962 1.0 1.4 1.3 1.7 1963 1.0 1.4 1.3 1.7 1963 1.0 1.3 1.2 1.7 1964 1.0 1.4 1.3 1.7 1965 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.7 1966 1.0 1.2 1.3 1.8 1967 1.0 1.1 1.3 1.8
Beer Cigarettes Wine Whisky (October) 1968 1.0 1.2 1.3 1.6 1969 1.0 1.2 1.6 1.5 1970 1.0 1.2 1.6 1.5 1971 1.0 1.1 1.5 1.3 1972 1.0 1.0 1.4 1.3 1973 1.0 0.9 1.2 1.1 1974 1.0 0.9 1.1 0.9 1975 1.0 1.0 1.2 1.0 1976 1.0 0.9 1.1 1.0 1977 1.0 0.9 1.0 1.0 1978 1.0 0.9 1.0 0.9 1979 1.0 0.9 0.9 0.9 1980 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 Notes
(1) The calculation made to obtain the indexes is illustrated below. For example, the wine index for 1970
=(1970 wine price ÷ 1980 wine price)/(1970 beer price ÷ 1980 beer price)
(2) The indexes for beer and cigarettes are based on the representative prices available from the RPI. The indexes for wine and whisky are based on the typical off-licence prices of table wine and standard whisky available from alternative sources. This information for whisky is published in the annual Reports of the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Customs and Excise.
(3) The movements in the table do not only reflect price movements because there have been changes in the type and mix of products available over the period.