§ 63. Mr. Lewisasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether
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Value of Imports (a) of Food and Beverages Volume of Imports (a) of Food and Beverages Estimated Total Personal Expenditure on Food — £m. c.i.f. (1st Quarter 1951=100) At current prices £ million Revalued at average 1954 prices £ million 1951 1958 1951 1958 1951 1958 1951 1958 January … … 94.7 114.9 100 131 664 1,108 860 978 February … … 85.9 108.2 March … … 97.9 119.8 April … … 105.7 120.7 124 129 739 1,179 877 1,013 May … … 118.5 115.9 June … … 119.5 117.8 July … … 114.1 127.6 115 128 797 — 926 — August … … 115.9 112.9 September … … 89.2 112.2 October … … 98£6 121£6 99 — 787 — 921 — November … … 92.0 — December … … 94.0 — (a) Class A of the Trade and Navigation Accounts, less A.11 (Tobacco). he will publish in HANSARD a table of figures giving the cost and quantity of food imports for each of the months from January 1951 until December 1951, compared with January, 1958, until the latest convenient stated monthly date, and similar details for the retail cost of food in Great Britain during the same periods, using as the basis, January, 1951, being equal to 100.
§ Mr. John HareI am circulating below a table showing the monthly value of food imports, together with quarterly indices of the volume of imports and quarterly estimates of personal expenditure on food over the relevant periods. The latter information is not available on a monthly basis, but the quantities of individual foodstuffs imported each month have been published in considerable detail in the Trade and Navigation Accounts. The important point to bear in mind is that the total volume of food consumption in the first half of this year was nearly 15 per cent. higher than in the first half of 1951, after allowing for changes in food prices.