§ Mr. HigginsTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what information he has as to the 10 most important items in the retail price index of each European Economic Community country and the percentage of consumers' expenditure on each of them.
§ Mr. LeeComparative information is not available from national price indices but the statistical office of the European Communities has compiled the following figures on the basis of budget surveys dating from around 1979. Like all international comparisons of consumers' expenditure they should be treated with caution as it is difficult to obtain data for different countries on a consistent basis.
381W
Germany France Italy United Kingdom Netherlands Belgium Ireland Denmark Spain per cent. per cent. per cent. per cent. per cent. per cent. per cent. per cent. per cent. Electricity 3.0 — — — — — — 2.3 — Furniture and furnishings 3.7 3.2 — — 3.9 — — — — Medical care and health 4.6 5.6 — — 9.0 3.2 — — 2.4 Motor vehicle purchase 5.7 5.5 3.7 3.8 3.9 3.5 4.7 — 3.3 Car spares and repairs — — — — — — — 2.5 — Motor fuel and oil — 4.8 5.5 3.2 — 2.9 5.2 3.5 4.1 Recreational goods 3.9 3.4 3.0 3.7 5.0 3.0 — 3.6 2.2 Recreational services3 — — — — — — 3.5 — — Restaurants and cafes 4.4 3.7 4.6 3.3 3.2 3.7 6.9 — 5.7 Insurance premiums 7.3 — — 6.3 — 3.2 4.0 4.8 — 1 Excluding potatoes. 2 Such expenditure is generally under-recorded in budget surveys. 3 Excluding hotels, restaurants and cafes. Source: Eurostat: Family budgets—comparative tables (2 volumes, 1985 and 1986)