§ 48. Mr. Brewisasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the rise in the food price index over the last two years and how this compares with food prices rises in the European Economic Community.
§ Mr. Anthony StodartFollowing is the information. The annual average percentage increases over the previous year's levels are shown below:
1969 1970 United Kingdom … 6.3 6.9 Belgium … 4.7 3.5 France … 6.2 6.2 Germany … 0.9 2.6 Italy … 2.9 4.4* Luxembourg … 3.1 5.4 Netherlands … 5.2 4.4 * This figure relates of the first 11 months of 1970 only. Sources: U.K. figures— Retail Food Prices.
E.E.C. figures— Consumer Prices for Food and Beverages published by the Statistical Office of the E.E.C. (Allgemeine Statistik 1971 No. 3).