HC Deb 02 March 1990 vol 168 cc339-40W
Mr. Tim Smith

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish a table showing the underlying rate of inflation in each member state of the European Community at the latest available date.

Mr. Ryder

The inflation rates given in the table exclude estimates of home owners' costs and are, therefore, more comparable across countries:

12-month growth rate of consumer prices in the European Community
December 198911
United Kingdom2 6.1
Germany 2.6
France 3.6
Italy 6.4
Belgium 3.6
Denmark 4.8
Greece 14.8
Ireland 4.2
Luxembourg 3.9
Netherlands 1.0
Portugal 11.6
Spain 6.6

1 Except United Kingdom, Germany and Italy (January 1990), and Ireland (1989, 4th quarter).

2 United Kingdom figure is for RPI excluding mortgage interest payments (MIPs). Where other countries include estimates of home owners' housing costs, these have been excluded to put figures on a more comparable basis.