HC Deb 18 November 1977 vol 939 cc406-7W
Mr. Knox

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish in the Official Report a table showing for each year since 1945 the percentage increase or decrease in the internal purchasing power of the £ sterling and the value of a 1945 £ sterling in each subsequent year, respectively.

Mr. Denzil Davies

Information for 1945 is not available. Column (1) below shows the percentage change on the preceding year of the annual average internal purchasing power of the pound column (2) shows for each year the sum of money with internal purchasing power in that year equivalent to that of £1 in 1946. Since consumers' purchasing patterns have altered considerably over the years shown in the table, the values given in column (2) for later years give only a broad indication of the changes in internal purchasing power since 1946.

(1) (2)
per cent
1947 -6.4 £1.07
1948 -7.1 £1.15
1949 -2.3 £1.18
1950 -2.8 £1.21
1951 -8.2 £1.32
1952 -5.8 £1.40
1953 -1.7 £1.43
1954 -1.6 £1.45
1955 -3.4 £1.50
1956 -4.1 £1.56
1957 -3.2 £1.62
1958 -2.7 £1.66
1959 -0.6 £1.67
1960 -1.0 £1.69
1961 -2.7 £1.73
1962 -3.8 £1.80
1963 -1.9 £1.84
1964 -3.2 £1.90
1965 -4.5 £1.99
1966 -3.8 £2.06
1967 -2.6 £2.12
1968 -4.4 £2.22
1969 -5.1 £2.34
1970 -6.0 £2.49
1971 -8.6 £2.72
1972 -6.7 £2.91
1973 -8.3 £3.18
1974 -13.8 £3.69
1975 -19.5 £4.59
1976 -14.2 £5.34