§ Mr. Skeetasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give the retail price in each Common Market country for 4-star petrol expressed in pence per gallon and the average wage in each country expressed in £ sterling.
§ Mr. GrayI have been asked to reply.
The latest information on the gross hourly earnings of employees in manufacturing industry collected by the Statistical Office of the European Community relates to April 1980 for countries other than Italy and Netherlands, for whom the related dates are October 1979 and April 1979 respectively.
The following table shows the average wage in pounds per hour and the typical price of 4-star petrol at the date relevant to the wage rate figures.
It must always be borne in mind when making international comparisons that difficulties can arise in times when inflation and exchange rate fluctuations occur. There can, moreover, be a wide range of prices and wages within countries, and differences in methods of collecting the data may not always provide comparable figures.
Country Gross hourly earnings for employees in manufacturing industry (April 1980) Typical retail price of 4-star petrol (15 April 1980) £ per hour pence per gallon Belgium 3.26 155 Denmark 3.95 167 Federal Republic of Germany 3.18 130 France 2.23 159 Italy *1.68 *152 Ireland 1.98 138 Luxembourg Not applicable Not applicable Netherlands †3.15 †123 United Kingdom 2.24 132 *October 1979. †April 1979. Sources: SOEC and EEC oil bulletin.
National currencies have been converted at exchange rates current at time of data collection.