§ Mr. Tebbitasked the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection what were the cumulative increases in (a) consumer prices and (b) food prices for the periods July 1970 to February 1974, and March 1974 to the latest available date, in the United Kingdom, United States of America, Italy, France, Japan and West Germany.
§ Mr. Maclennan, pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 20th March 1978], gave the following information:
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CONSUMER PRICES July 1970 to February 1974 March 1974 to January 1978 Percentage increase Latest 12 months United Kingdom … … … 38.5 84.7 9.5* USA … … … 21.3 30.6 6.6 Italy … … … 34.3 80.9† 14.1‡ France … … … 29.1 45.7 9.2 Japan … … … 47.0 40.4 4.3 West Germany … … … 24.7 18.5 3.2 Notes * February 1977 to February 1978. † To December 1977. ‡ December 1976 to December 1977. Although the information requested is shown below, the figures are probably not comparable. Methods of defining and calculating export unit value and wholesale price indices differ within and between countries and problems connected with composition expose comparisons to particular risk. Data published as 1958=100 and 1970=100 have been linked as necessary to produce continuous series for use in this answer. The group of the eight largest exporters of manufactures was the same in 1963 and 1970.
The cumulative increases as requested are given below. Because the intervals of time covered by the two periods differ, the respective increases are not comparable. The overall figures conceal differing trends over time. The latest annual increases, which are also given, illustrate the marked reduction in the rate of increase for the United Kingdom relative to that for other countries. The comparisons of increases in food prices are further complicated in that the inclusion of alcoholic drinks and tobacco varies between countries.
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FOOD PRICES July 1970 to February 1974 March 1974 to December 1977 Percentage increase Latest 12 months United Kingdom … … … 53.9 91.0 6.9* USA … … … 36.1 23.5 8.0 ltaly§ … … … 35.8 87.3† 17.8‡ France§ … … … 33.0 50.3 11.7 Japan … … … 55.1 37.9 4.5 West Germany§║ … … … 20.4 16.4 3.7 Notes *February 1977 to February 1978. † To November 1977. ‡ November 1976 to November 1977. § Includes beverages. ║ Includes tobacco. Sources: OECD Main Economic Indicators; UN Monthly Bulletin of Statistics; Eurostat Monthly general statistics.